Kolkata, June 26 (SocialNews.XYZ) Reviving Kolkata as a major urban and economic hub is critical for building a high-growth network of cities in eastern India and achieving the goal of a Viksit Bharat, Member of the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) to the Prime Minister, Sanjeev Sanyal, said on Friday.
Speaking in Kolkata, Sanyal said a developed eastern India and a developed Bengal are essential for realizing the vision of Viksit Bharat, with Kolkata continuing to remain the largest urban centre in the region.
"In order for you to have Viksit Bharat, you need to have a Viksit Eastern India and Viksit Bengal and Viksit Kolkata are key to this," Sanyal said, stressing the need to create a network of fast-growing urban centres across eastern India.
He said cities such as Patna, Guwahati, Ranchi and Bhubaneswar also need to emerge as growth centres, but noted that Kolkata remains the single largest hub in the region and its revival is crucial to accelerating economic growth across eastern India.
"Obviously you need Patna, Guwahati, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, they need to fire up but let's be honest, Kolkata is still the single largest hub so really getting Kolkata going is critical to getting this network of urban hubs growing fast," he told.
Sanyal emphasised the need to invest in Kolkata's urban ecosystem and said multiple measures would be required to restore the city's growth momentum. These include redevelopment initiatives and changes in industrial policies that may not be sufficiently supportive of business and investment.
He said Bengal has a long history of trade and entrepreneurship and that business is deeply rooted in the state's culture. According to him, the spirit of innovation, risk-taking and entrepreneurship for which Bengalis were historically known needs to be revived.
Sanyal said a developed Bengal must play an important role in the larger goal of building a developed India, adding that strengthening Kolkata's economic and urban ecosystem would be central to achieving that objective.
Source: IANS
About Gopi
Gopi Adusumilli is a Programmer. He is the editor of SocialNews.XYZ and President of AGK Fire Inc.
He enjoys designing websites, developing mobile applications and publishing news articles on current events from various authenticated news sources.
When it comes to writing he likes to write about current world politics and Indian Movies. His future plans include developing SocialNews.XYZ into a News website that has no bias or judgment towards any.
He can be reached at gopi@socialnews.xyz