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Calcutta 1981

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Jean Racine

Session III. A. Tackling the Crisis

11. Metropolitan Calcutta and Economic Action

M.G. Kutty

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  • 1 This has already been done with effect from 16 January, 1982 (M.G.K., 1982).
  • 2 The new strategy evolved in 1982 gives more autonomy for planning and programme implementation to (...)

1The main concern of the Calcutta Metropolitan Development Authority since its formation in 1970 has been the development activity in the field of municipal infrastructure, embracing water supply, sewerage and drainage, public cleansing, slum improvement, roads and area development. It is appropriate lo view this large-scale development effort in infrastructure as an essential support to the economic revival and growth of the metropolis. However, equally relevant to the future of the metropolis are economic policies and actions per se. What do we foresee as appropriate policies and actions, especially in regard to industrial and economic growth, relationship with the hinterland and energy requirements? With the expected transformation of Calcutta Metropolitan Development Authority into a full-fledged planning and development authority under the recently enacted West Bengal Town and Country (Planning and Development) Act 19791, the CMDA will have to concern itself with these vital issues more closely2. Under the present Statute, though the CMDA is vested with powers of plan formulation and development in the Calcutta Metropolitan District, the new act when enforced will provide a more specific and comprehensive role to the organization. Under Section 13 of the new Act, the CMDA as a development authority will have the power to prepare a detailed Development Plan and to coordinate development activities of all departments and agencies of the state government of local authorities within its area of operation. For preparation of the detailed Development Plan Under Section 32 of the planning Statute, the CMDA will also have to evolve a clear understanding of the future economic role of the CMD and policies relating to such role. Though in matters of economic policy the functions and powers mainly vest in the agencies of the state and national governments, the closest interaction will be necessary between the CMDA and such agencies in the future, since development of a physical infrastructure of the metropolis which is the concern of the CMDA cannot be divorced from consideration relevant to the economic base.

The Basic Development Plan and the economic programme: 1966-86

  • 3 "Basic Development Plan Calcutta Metropolitan District (1966-86)", prepared by the Calcutta Metropo (...)
  • 4 Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, the employment projections have not materialized to the e (...)

2The policy objectives for the Calcutta Metropolitan District economy (1966-86) outlined in the Basic Development Plan provide a starting point3. The interrelationship of CMD's industrial base with the needs and resources of the state agricultural sector, besides the export promotion role of the CMD was recognized in the Basic Development Plan. Also referred to were the objectives of rise in per capita income and reduction in under-employment and provision of more employment opportunities, in the context of prescriptions for action over a wider regional front. In 1966 the Basic Development Plan had however clearly indicated: "there is always a great deal of understandable uncertainty about the prospects for economic growth, even at the national level. There is even more uncertainty about what can be achieved in specific areas such as the CMD. The levels to which local unemployment can be reduced will depend largely upon the success of governmental and private enterprise in establishing sufficient industrial and urban centres elsewhere in the eastern region to prevent every substantial improvement in the CMD being eroded by the fresh flow of rural-urban migrants it attracts." The Basic Development Plan proposed employment targets only upto 1976. As against actual employment of 2.4 million in 1961 the target for 1976 was proposed at 3.6 million. In the secondary sector (industry) employment was targetted to grow from 1.0 million in 1961 to 1.7 million in 1976 and in the tertiary sector (trade and services) from 1.3 million in 1961 to 1.9 million in 19764. These figures are of interest in the context of the developments which have actually occurred since the 1960's. It is also interesting to recall the governmental actions relating to the CMD economy which were proposed in the Basic Development Plan as follows:

  1. The designation of areas for agricultural, industrial and commercial use and the installation of the infrastructure required for these uses.
  2. The institution of programmes for using existing industrial capacity more fully.
  3. The development of public sector industry.
  4. The institution of a programme of economic incentives for encouraging private industrial growth in accordance with the Basic Development Plan.
  5. The creation of administrative machinery necessary for the continued evaluation and planning of economic progress in the Calcutta Metropolitan District.
  • 5 The construction of this bridge started in 1981 (J.R.).

3Spatially, the proposal of the Basic Development Plan 1966, was to create industrial space and infrastructure largely in the metropolitan core in the Howrah area to the west, the Belghoria-Cossipore areas to the north, the Tiljala-Tangra area to the east, and the South Suburban-Kidderpore area to the south. Consistent with the binodal concept of development of the Basic Development Plan, it was also proposed to create additional industrial space in the Kalyani-Bansberia area in the north of the CMD, with the crucial support of a bridge across the river to link Kalyani and Bansberia5. In the field of existing industrial capacity utilization, it was proposed in the Plan that a clear programme be evolved covering plant, manpower, raw material supplies and marketing. In its proposals for economic action the Basic Development Plan laid stress on the establishment of an Industrial Development Corporation and the formulation of a scheme of industrial incentives.

Energy Problems

4Power is undoubtedly the single most important item of economic infrastructure to support economic growth. The Calcutta Metropolitan District is supplied power by a number of agencies which include the Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation (a private undertaking), the West Bengal State Electricity Board and the Durgapur Projects Ltd. —two state government enterprises— and the Damodar Valley Corporation, a national power generating agency. It is impossible to plan the power generation, transmission and distribution for CMD in isolation. The power programmes are planned and implemented for the state as a whole in the context of regional and national policies on electricity. The distribution of power in the CMD is the responsibility of the Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation more or less in the core areas, and in the rest of the metropolis the distribution is done by the West Bengal State Electricity Board; both these organizations have some generating stations inside the CMD.

5We may take stock of the past trends and the present position in regard to power. The Basic Development Plan had forecast the CMD power requirements for 1976 at 6,894 million kilowatt hours, compared to 3,283 million kwh in 1966, and for this purpose had estimated that by 1976 the generating capacity on various assumptions of load factor and diversity factor will vary for the CMD from 1,181 mw to 1,574 mw. Over the State as a whole, the derated installed capacity increased from 1,530.2 mw in 1970-71 to only 1,625 mw by 1976-77 with the generation increasing during the same period from 5,339.2 million kwh to 6,545.9 million kwh. It is clear that the generation in the whole State did not reach the 1976 target for power needs in CMD suggested in the Basic Development Plan.

Power programmes

6At present the Calcutta Metropolitan District is facing the problem of shortage of power. Excluding the areas directly served by the Damodar Valley Corporation, the net availability of power in the state during 1978-79 was 868 mw, whereas the potential demand amounted to 1.082 mw. Due to the large concentration of power demand in the metropolitan area, the shortage of power has been one of the major Problems of economic infrastructure confronting the CMD. Between 1978-79 and 1982-83 the government has proposed addition of further installed capacity of 1,597 mw in the state and work on many of these projects is going on. But even with this addition, it is apprehended that shortages will persist. The Economic Review of the Government of West Bengal (1978-79) presents the following forecast of net availability and potential demand for power (excluding the Damodar Valley Corporation) taking into account the additions to capacity now under way, amounting to 1,597 mw. (Table 11.1).

Table 11.1: Availability and demand for electricity in the Metropolitan District of Calcutta 1978-83

Table 11.1: Availability and demand for electricity in the Metropolitan District of Calcutta 1978-83
  • 6 Except for the installation of five gas turbines of 20 mw capacity and the commissioning of the ne (...)

7Under the circumstances, it has become necessary to think in terms of further additions to installed capacity in the next three to four years. For the state as a whole, including the areas served by the Damodar Valley Corporation, the Central Electricity Authority has forecast the power demand to rise from 1,472 mw in 1978-79 to 2,038 mw by 1982-83 and 2,215 mw by 1983-84. Even these forecasts do not take into account the need for additional power for such large projects as the subway transit System in Calcutta and the petro-chemical complex at the new growth centre in Haldia. If the industrial base in CMD and the state is diversified, these forecasts of demand may be found to be further wanting. Early completion of on-going projects and substantial further additions to power generation capacity in the state are essential preconditions to the economic growth of CMD: there has been inadequate growth of installed capacity in the past6.

Utilization of power capacity

  • 7 Out of the five gas turbines recently set up in West Bengal in the frame of this short term strate (...)

8In the short run, as in the case of industry, there is also the issue of better utilization of existing capacity for generation. The main generating agency in the state, i.e., the West Bengal State Electricity Board has a ratio of generation to installed capacity of about 3.7. It is feasible to think in terms of improvement of this ratio to 4 to 5 though a number of coordinated actions to improve utilization of plant capacity by all power agencies in the State. In the immediate future, while additions to capacity are being brought on stream, better utilization of existing capacity in the power sector stands on the same footing as better utilization, of industrial capacity to ensure quicker economic benefits to the CMD. Another short-term strategy adopted by the state government recently has been to install gas turbine sets to provide additional capacity of 100 mw7.

9Certain estimates of power needs have been referred to and the likely dimensions of the effort needed indicated to a degree. But the basic issue has still to be resolved about the methodology and mechanism for estimating the power requirements of CMD in the context of an economic programme for the CMD and achieving the targets of such requirements. It is likely that with a purposive plan of economic action in the CMD, the power requirements will be significantly more than those estimated on the basis of certain past trends, and inadequate present knowledge of likely patterns and dimensions of industrial and commercial growth in the CMD. This underlines the need for close coordination between the power planning and implementing agencies, the agencies responsible for economic and industrial development and the Calcutta Metropolitan Development Authority

The present industrial stagnation

Industrial structure of Calcutta Metropolitan District

  • 8 Hired worker: any worker who is not the owner of the establishment (J.R.).

10Since the Basic Development Plan was formulated in 1966, neither structurally nor spatially has there been much of a change in the industrial scene of Calcutta Metropolitan District by itself, and in relation to the regional hinterland. The economic predominance of CMD in the Suite continues to persist, and in terms of dimensions of industrial growth except for the Asansol-Durgapur region and to some extern in recent years Haldia, there are no other significant centres of industrial activity in the State. The Annual Survey of Industries showed in 1971 that 66.77 per cent of productive capital, 80.37 per cent of employment, 82.26 per cent of output, and 90.27 per cent of value added in manufacture were accounted by the five CMD districts, i.e., Calcutta, Howrah, Hooghly, 24-Parganas and Nadia. The Economic Census of non-agricultural establishments (1977) showed that out of the total number of urban establishments in the state, the five CMD districts accounted for 74.8 per cent and of the number of hired workers in urban establishments in West Bengal, 74.2 per cent were accounted for by the five CMD districts8. The number of registered working factories (except defence factories) in West Bengal was 5,612 and the number in the five CMD districts 4,553 in 1970, whereas in 1977 also the dominance of CMD persisted with 4,795 units in the five districts compared to the state total of 5,837 units. The same pattern is repeated in the case of small-scale industrial units. At the end of March 1978, out of the 1,06,888 registered small industrial units in the state, the five CMD districts accounted for 65,290 units. Out of the total employment of 7,58,163 in these units in the state, the five CMD districts accounted for 5,70,538. There has been no significant additional growth of the industrial sector; for example, the average daily employment in registered working factories in the state (most of them in CMD) has fluctuated around 8,50,000 for the past many years.

Diversification of the industrial base

11Besides the need to boost industrial growth generally, the most significant issues in the context of the future of the CMD relate to diversification of the industrial base, and industrial location policies. The industrial structure of CMD has not undergone much significant change over the years. In the case of large and medium units, the industrial base of CMD is still dominated by engineering, jute, cotton textiles, paper and paper products, rubber and rubber products. The CMD is yet to make a significant impact on the industrial scene in respect of the modern product lines of consumer good, electronics, Chemicals and even drugs and pharmaceuticals (though there are some drug units). In the small-scale sector, food and beverage products, hosiery and readymade garments, leather, metal products and transport equipment still dominate the field; growth of electrical and electronics units, Chemical units and light engineering units hold promise of diversification in the small-scale sector. For the entire industrial sector a perspective has to be developed with appropriate regional orientation. Such a perspective could be helpful for both public and private investment by indicating what kinds of new industrial activity could be appropriate to which locations. In the context of such a perspective, the agencies responsable for physical and economic infrastructure can take appropriate measures to support growth.

Utilization of industrial capacity

12Utilization of existing industrial capacity in the metropolis has continued to pose problems since the sixties. There has been some improvement since then in capacity utilization, but still there is sizeable scope for increased utilization. A survey done in 1976 (Report on the Survey on Capacity Utilization in Industries in West Bengal, Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry) on sample basis, showed that 20 per cent of the units had capacity utilization of below 50 per cent and another 23 per cent of the units had capacity utilization of between 50 per cent to 60 per cent. Among the causal factors for underutilization the most important (63 per cent) was demand constraint, followed by other factors such as raw material and power shortages, financial accommodation, etc... Since 1976, the demand has generally picked up, and it appears that at present policy actions in the sphere of capacity utilization has to concentrate on raw material, power and transport difficulties as well as managerial and financial factors. In the long-term, however, boosting of demand will need continued emphasis on the development of the agricultural hinterland of the metropolis. Short-term management of better capacity utilization calls for constant monitoring of the production and utilization trends of the CMD industry and an institutional arrangement for this is a necessity. This was in fact one of the most important recommendations of the Basic Development Plan. The factors leading to underutilization may be changing from period to period; hence the need for constant monitoring to understand the causes of underutilization from time to time so that remedial measures could be planned and implemented.

The port traffic: an economic indicator

  • 9 Those figures include Haldia's share as the new port, despite its position 56 nautical miles downs (...)

13The export and import traffic handled by the Calcutta Port provides an indication of the trends in the economy of the CMD, through undoubtedly the port caters to a large inter-state hinterland also. The following data seems to indicate a trend of unsatisfactory growth of export and import traffic at the Calcutta Port9.

Table 11.2: Export and import of Calcutta Port, 1971-1978

Table 11.2: Export and import of Calcutta Port, 1971-1978

14Apart from further growth in traditional lines such as jute textiles, engineering goods and leather products, new lines such as handloom products and handicrafts, marine products and electronic goods hold promise in the future export profile of the CMD. The problems of the Calcutta port will need urgent attention from the policy point of view, since next to power perhaps the most important items of economic infrastructure of the CMD are the port facilities at Calcutta and Haldia.

The industrial strategy for development

State industrial policy

  • 10 This important demand from West Bengal has not yet met with success. Equalization of prices of all (...)

15Among the State Industrial Policy guidelines adopted by the state government, the need for reversal of the trend towards industrial stagnation and for providing increased employment in industry and agriculture has been stressed. Particular emphasis has been placed on the growth of cottage and small-scale industries, and the gradual expansion of the public sector. In accordance with the policy guidelines, the state government has also set up an Industrial Advisory Council with representatives of government, trade unions, industry and experts. In spatial terms it is significant to note that the Industrial Policy Statement has proposed: "Small-scale decentralized units will be built to create additional employment for the rural poor, to satisfy some of their baste consumption needs and to provide many of the inputs that the peasantry will need to improve crop production. One natural corollary of the strategy will be to shift resources away, relatively, if not absolutely, from the Calcutta metropolitan region. This will make it possible to develop the severely neglected regions of western Bengal and north Bengal." The industrial policy statement has laid emphasis on the regional perspectives of development embracing not only the state but the entire eastern region, and explicitly recognizes that additional investible funds should be secured for the entire eastern region since "industrial development in any eastern suite will by and large also contribute to the well-being of West Bengal's economy." Towards this objective, the statement also pleads for equalization of prices of all industrial raw materials throughout the country10, equalization of freight structure for these raw materials on a national basis, and state-wise distribution of all industrial raw materials on the basis of actual requirement. In the context of industry in the CMD, the emphasis of the suite industrial policy will be (1) on the growth of small-scale industry in the CMD, (2) on improvement in the working of public sector units in the CMD in order to increase their contribution to the economy, (3) on revival of economically viable units under restructured management in the CMD, (4) on the establishment of new large-scale units as well as small units in underdeveloped regions of the state and new growth centres therein, such as Haldia and Siliguri.

16To appreciate the policy parameters for industrial development affecting the CMD, reference may be made to the West Bengal Incentive Scheme for Large and Medium Scale Industrial Units 1978, and the West Bengal Scheme for Incentives to Ancillary, Cottage and Small Scale Industries, 1978. Under the Scheme for large and medium industries various concessions are provided for establishment of new units or substantial expansion of existing units. The concessions are related to the classification of the state into Group 'A' (Developed Areas) and Group 'B' (Backward Areas). The developed areas have been defined as any area under the jurisdiction of the Calcutta Metropolitan Development Authority but excluding any such area within the district of Nadia, which means that the new growth centre of Kalyani (one of the two nodes for development proposed in the Basic Development Plan) will qualify for larger incentives as a backward area. The structure of incentives provided under the scheme include the subsidy for creating additional employment, return of sales tax as soft loans, subsidy for installation of captive power unit, power tariff subsidy, capital investment subsidy, rent subsidy on land, development loan, subsidy for cost of feasibility study and other concessions. Some of these incentives are available only for units set up in backward areas; some others are in varying degrees provided on more favourable terms in backward areas compared to the developed areas, i.e., the CMD. The Incentive Scheine 1978 for large and medium industries provides specific expression to the policy of regional decentralization, and as such this scheme is very relevant to the planning of the CMD economy for the future. The indications are that in the matter of additional industrial growth the CMD will therefore have to concentrate on consolidation, revival and better use of existing industrial capacity, and on new product lines in large, medium and small scale sector with distinct locational advantages in the metropolis, besides carefully planned expansion of existing units.

Ancillary and small industries in CMD

17The relatively larger scope for ancillary and small scale industries in the suburban areas of CMD will be apparent from the Incentive Scheme 1978 for such industries, which has adopted a somewhat different definition of "backward areas" compared to the scheme for large and medium industries. Under the latter scheme "backward areas" means "any area of West Bengal excluding the municipal areas under the jurisdiction of the Corporation of Calcutta and the municipalities of Howrah, Bally, Uttarpara, Serampore, South Suburban, Garden Reach, Dum Dum North, Dum Dum South, Baranagar, Titagarh and Barrackpore." The scheme for ancillary and small industries thus treats only the metropolitan core areas of CMD as developed areas, and a large area in the CMD qualifies for preferential treatment in the matter of concessions under the scheme along with other areas of the state. The bias in favour of decentralization is evident from the provision in the scheme for ancillary and small industries that an industrial unit shilling from the CMDA area to any area outside its jurisdiction m West Bengal will be paid a subsidy towards the cost of shilling. As in the case of large and medium industries, the new units and the units going in for substantial expansion are provided a range of incentives, weighted in favour of backward areas, and including subsidy for rent of land and industrial sheds, subsidy on capital investment, subsidy on power tariff, grant of sales taxes and octroi, subsidy towards cost of captive power units, etc...

Institutional infrastructure

18An institutional infrastructure has been created for administering various programmes for industrial development including the incentive schemes referred to above. The incentive scheme for large and medium industries is administered by the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation, an institution set up by the government to promote industrial development on the lines recommended in the Basic Development Plan. The incentive scheme for ancillary and small industries is administered by the District Industries Centres set up recently by the government to promote regionally dispersed growth of small industries in the districts. An Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation has also been established by the Government to develop and provide industrial space and other infrastructure especially in new growth centres, such as Kalyani, Haldia and Siliguri. Besides, there are state agencies, such as Small Industries Development Corporation, West Bengal Financial Corporation and subject-matter corporations in fields such as electronic industries. Conceptual and institutional interaction in the field of regional industrial growth strategies is essential to evolve the specific guidelines for an economic strategy for CMD.

19The Calcutta Metropolitan Development Authority has also to establish continuous communication with these agencies and policy concepts in the evolution of the economic base for the CMDA action programmes in future years.

Employment prospects

20We have concentrated on the prospects for industry in the CMD mainly on the assumption that industry will be the pace-setter for tertiary employment in trade and services. Undoubtedly, Wholesale and retail trade, transport and services sector employment are all extremely crucial to the economic growth of the CMD. A spatial planning Organization such as the CMDA ought to take into consideration the requirement of trade, transport and services sector while planning for facilities; the CMDA could in a number of suitable cases also play a promotional role in the matter of creation of more office and commercial space and facilities. However, broadly speaking, the industrial base of CMD holds the key to future economic viability of the metropolis and in fact, the viability of all the ambitious programmes for further development of the CMD. Since the Basic Development Plan of 1966 the perspective planning effort for the CMD on a comprehensive basis has yet to be resumed. With the new town planning Statute already enacted into law, in the near future such planning effort is scheduled to be initiated again. It may nevertheless be pertinent to refer to some tentative projections of the CMDA made in the late seventies (Development Perspective). These projections showed that if the participation ratio continues at the 1961 rate (35) between 1971 and 1986 the employment in the CMD will have to grow by 13,19,000, i.e., 3.4 per cent per annum on the average. On assumptions of participation ratio of 40 by 2001, employment will have to grow by another 19,56,000 between 1986 and 2001. In 1971 industrial employment constituted 38 per cent of total employment in the CMD. The Development Perspective prepared by the CMDA assumed that in future industrial employment may marginally increase to 40 per cent of total employment, i.e., by 1986, additional industrial employment over the level of 1971 will have to be about 5,27,600. Judged by the actual sluggish growth of industrial employment, it will be clear that if even these modest targets are to be achieved, substantial effort on many fronts including industrial revival, expansion of industry on a selective basis, improvement of infrastructure, including power, port facilities, transport and industrial and commercial space and facilities will be needed. In brief, economic growth will have to be clearly and specifically linked to physical growth and development programmes in the CMD.

Immigration and the regional dimension

  • 11 The 1981 Census figures relating to migrations are not expected to be published for several years. (...)

21The Basic Development Plan had observed that about 30 per cent of the 1951-61 population growth in the CMD had been due to a continued inflow of migrants, including refugees. In 1966 the Plan had estimated annual net migration into CMD to be around 58,000. In estimating the CMD population of 8.627 million by 1971 and 12.301 million by 1986, the Plan and assumed population growth due to net migration at 0.8 per cent increase per annum. The 1971 census showed the CMD population at 8.348 million (estimated from 1971 census by the CMDA) which was very close to the total population projection of the Basic Development Plan. The net migration into the CMD has obviously slowed down during the decade of the 1960's compared to the earlier decade, though the trends during the present decade can be discerned clearly only when the next census is completed in 198l11. However, there can be no doubt about the need for continued stress on regional decentralization in the future both from the point of view of the strong arguments in favour of spatial spread of incomes and standards of living, and the Overall economic development objectives of the state. Any imbalance or bias in the relative scale's of development effort regionally is also likely to dilute and weaken the impact of development effort in the CMD through the operation of "pull factor" in population movements. Therefore in the regional context substantial additional investment and development efforts are needed in rural development with emphasis on the spread of irrigation and drainage facilities, improved agricultural techniques, land reforms, rural electrification, rural road Systems and development of market towns and medium and large urban centres in the hinterland of the CMD. This is a field germane to economic planning for the State itself, and serves to emphasize the necessity for economic integration of the CMD plans and programmes into a wider regional perspective for the state economy.

Endnotes

1 This has already been done with effect from 16 January, 1982 (M.G.K., 1982).

2 The new strategy evolved in 1982 gives more autonomy for planning and programme implementation to the local authorities, municipalities or anchois (sec Chapter 10, annexure 1) (J.R.).

3 "Basic Development Plan Calcutta Metropolitan District (1966-86)", prepared by the Calcutta Metropolitan Planning Organization, 1966 Mr. Kutty was at that time the Director of the CMPO (J.R.).

4 Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, the employment projections have not materialized to the extern predicted in the Basic Development Plan (M.G.K., 1982).

5 The construction of this bridge started in 1981 (J.R.).

6 Except for the installation of five gas turbines of 20 mw capacity and the commissioning of the new unit of 120 mw capacity at Santaldih, other new units are yet to be commissioned (M.G.K., 1982).

7 Out of the five gas turbines recently set up in West Bengal in the frame of this short term strategy, two have been located in Calcutta suburbs, two in Haldia, and one in North Bengal. Each turbine has an installed capacity of 20 mw. This project, quickly completed, has not, however, sensibly improved the critical situation resulting of power shortage. On this power crisis, see Addendum D (J R.).

8 Hired worker: any worker who is not the owner of the establishment (J.R.).

9 Those figures include Haldia's share as the new port, despite its position 56 nautical miles downstream from Calcutta, is a component of the Calcutta port. Since 1978-79 the total seaborne trade of Calcutta port has notably risen. It approached 10 million tonnes (9,93 mt) in 1981-82. On Calcutta-Haldia port, see Addendum C (J.R.).

10 This important demand from West Bengal has not yet met with success. Equalization of prices of all industrial raw materials throughout India would be vital for the State's development. West Bengal lost much when this equalization was decided in the fifties for coal and Steel: Bengal's proximity to the main coal and Steel base of India was no more an asset for its industrialists. A mere compensation would have required to equalize also the price of other basic raw material not available in Bengal or near Bengal (J.R).

11 The 1981 Census figures relating to migrations are not expected to be published for several years. (The data for 1971 was officially released only in 1980) (J.R.).

List of illustrations

Title Table 11.1: Availability and demand for electricity in the Metropolitan District of Calcutta 1978-83
URL http://books.openedition.org/ifp/docannexe/image/5344/img-1.jpg
File image/jpeg, 68k
Title Table 11.2: Export and import of Calcutta Port, 1971-1978
URL http://books.openedition.org/ifp/docannexe/image/5344/img-2.jpg
File image/jpeg, 108k

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