Entrepreneurship in Two Bengals: Lost in Transition

The story of entrepreneurship in undivided Bengal was about how the four distinct groups of business stakeholders made their way to kindle the spirit of entrepreneurship in their own way. Bengal remained an attractive destination for the colonial power owing to the inherent prosperity of the region and the fact that it was well-endowed in terms of natural resources. Starting with the East India Company (EIC) and its regional interests largely remained exploitative. With EIC’s dwindling fate by the turn of the nineteenth century, the Agency Houses started making headway into Bengal, laying the foundation for conducting business that seemed closer to commercial transactions and a corporate approach. Sooner the mercantile firms (and transnational companies) from Europe started finding their way through and looked at doing business. By the turn of the next century, the Swadeshi companies (entities owned by the local Bengali population) started their own manufacturing firms. With a diverse range of products, from engineering goods to consumer goods, the Swadeshi companies were the first traces of indigenous entrepreneurship. In post-independent India and Bangladesh, the trajectory of entrepreneurship has taken a form that is heavily MSME (Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise) driven. Across the two regions, sectors from textile, leather, handicraft, handlooms, and processed foods to name a few, are making their mark in the drive to achieve entrepreneurial excellence. For West Bengal, the political unrest and the stifling trade union pirouettes have all meant that large industries and corporates have remained a mirage, yet the state continues to make an environment for smaller and micro firms to thrive. While for Bangladesh, with a history of just fifty years, has remained hungry and aggressive (through the MSME initiatives) in the quest to drive entrepreneurial growth.