Chief minister Mamata Banerjee will flag off the eighth edition of the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) on Wednesday in the presence of the country’s top business leaders like Mukesh Ambani and Sajjan Jindal.

The summit is going to be virtually the last opportunity for the Mamata Banerjee government before the 2026 Assembly elections to draw investments by showcasing the state’s “business-friendly environment” and address the unemployment problem
in Bengal.

“Delegates from 40-odd countries are participating in the BGBS this time. Out of them, 20 countries are partnering with the summit. About 26 ambassadors or heads of foreign missions will be here for the programme,” said Mamata at a pre-event meet-and-greet function on
Tuesday evening.

Since coming to power in 2011, riding the anti-land acquisition movement, the Bengal chief minister has been striving hard for the state’s industrialisation. In 2015, the government organised the first edition of
the BGBS.

The state government has been claiming success in achieving its objective of rapid industrialisation of Bengal and the homepage of the BGBS website claimed the state as an “industrial powerhouse” and among the fastest growing economies in the country.

However, the Opposition parties have drilled holes into these claims. Accusing Mamata of failing to create employment opportunities in Bengal, they cited the trend of large-scale outmigration of the working-age population from the state.

Against this backdrop, multiple sources in the government said, the BGBS starting on Wednesday is significant as the Opposition is likely to make employment an issue in the next Assembly elections in 2026.

“She (Mamata) is aware of the realities.... A lot of efforts went into organising this event and you will see the results over the next two days,” said a source in the ruling establishment, hinting at the possibility of announcements in infrastructure sectors that would create jobs.

Ahead of the initial editions of the BGBS, Mamata had travelled to various countries like Singapore, the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain to ensure their participation in the investment summits. Although she did not travel abroad before the coming summit, there will not be any dearth of international participation, said a source.

“In terms of international participation, this summit will set a new standard,” said the source, referring to a roster in which six separate country sessions — including Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Poland and Bhutan — would be held during the two-day summit.

Unlike the last few years, when there used to be some pre-event announcements on who from India Inc would be present at the summit, the government is maintaining a lot of secrecy this time.

“Rest assured that some of the biggest names of India Inc will be here for the next two days as the two biggest chambers, FICCI and CII, will hold their national executives at the summit venue,” said a city-based industrialist.

Mamata herself told reporters that she would attend the two meetings “for a brief while” on Wednesday.

“I will go and greet them,” said the chief minister, exuding confidence that the summit would result in “good news” for the state.

Sources said the BGBS would focus on sectors like manufacturing and industries, including MSME, advanced manufacturing, natural resources and defence manufacturing, international trade and logistics, tourism, knowledge economy, including IT and ITes, health, health education and health infrastructure, creative economy and film industry.

“The programme and the list of participants look impressive.... Now it remains to be seen whether the outcome matches the state’s expectation,” said an industrialist.

The last edition of the BGBS, held in November 2023, attracted investment proposals worth ₹3,76,288 crore, contained in 188 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) and letters of intent (LoIs). It will be interesting to see whether the government rolls out any data on the implementation of the proposals received in the last summit.

The performance of this year’s summit — in terms of investment proposals — is likely to be announced at the concluding session on Thursday when Mamata will formally read out the report card in her valedictory address.