West Bengal ranks first in total meat production (including poultry) in the country. The state is also home to the second highest number of MSMEs in the country.
West Bengal is situated in eastern India and shares its borders with Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, Sikkim, and Assam. The state also shares international borders with Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal. The Bay of Bengal is in the south of West Bengal.
West Bengal, India’s sixth largest state in terms of economic size, has a projected Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of 17.19 trillion (US$ 208.24 billion) in 2023-24. The average annual GSDP is estimated to increase at 9.29% from 2018-19 to 2023-24BE.
In FY23 (until August 2022), the total exports from the state stood at US$ 5,830.91million. West Bengal exported key items such as iron & steel and marine products. During 2018-19, the state produced a total of 1.85 million tonnes of fish.
West Bengal is the second largest tea-producing state in India and is home to the globally acclaimed Darjeeling tea variety. West Bengal is the largest producer of rice in India. Rice production for the state totalled 14.99 million tonnes in 2017-18.
Its location advantage makes the state a traditional market for eastern India, the Northeast, Nepal, and Bhutan. It is also a strategic entry point for markets in Southeast Asia. The cost of operating a business is lower in Kolkata than in other metropolitan cities.
West Bengal has abundant natural resources of minerals and suitable agro-climatic conditions for agriculture, horticulture, and fisheries. It is in vicinity to mineral rich states like Jharkhand, Bihar, and Odisha. It offers excellent connectivity to the rest of India in terms of railways, roadways, ports, and airports.
As of April 2023, West Bengal had a total installed power generation capacity of 10,726.52 MW, of which 5,997.95 MW was under state utilities, 2,949.16 MW under private sector and 1,779.41 MW under central utilities.
Of the total installed power capacity, 8,696.41 MW was contributed by thermal power, 1,396 MW by hydropower and 634.11 MW by renewable power.
Between October 2019-March 2023, FDI inflows in West Bengal stood at US$ 1,428.18 million.
West Bengal ranked eleventh among Indian states on ease of doing business and reforms implementation according to a study by the World Bank and KPMG.