Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday announced the formation of a welfare board for traders, aimed at creating a structured interface between the state government and the trading community to address business concerns.

Speaking at a conference organised by the Confederation of West Bengal Trade Associations, Banerjee said the proposed board would function as a single-window mechanism for resolving issues faced by traders and facilitate dialogue between industry and government officials. “We have decided to set up a West Bengal Traders Welfare Board. The board will meet monthly and organise synergy events,” she said while inviting chambers of commerce across districts to participate.

As part of efforts to improve the ease of doing business, the chief minister announced the establishment of two export facilitation centres at Calcutta and Siliguri. These centres will showcase Bengal’s geographically indicated products and other goods exported from the state, while providing support in packaging, branding, digital marketing and export-related training.

Banerjee also inaugurated a Trade Receivable Discounting System (TReDS) portal to address short-term liquidity constraints faced by traders and manufacturers executing government contracts. Under the system, registered MSMEs can upload details of completed work, enabling banks and financial institutions to process payments quickly.

Cash economy

The chief minister stressed that the economy is “sound” only when there is cash available in the hands of the people.

Amit Mitra, principal chief adviser to the CM and the finance department, who was also present at the event, said that cash in the hands of the people through various welfare schemes will result in the majority of the money coming back in the market through excess demand, which can be met by the manufacturers and traders from the state.