West Bengal has made a direct pitch to organised real estate developers to invest in Kolkata and help deliver large-scale development projects, with state Finance Minister Dr. Swapan Dasgupta calling for the removal of barriers that have held back urban development.
“Kolkata and West Bengal present the greatest opportunity for development in India because we need to upgrade at every level,” Dasgupta said while addressing the inaugural session of CREDAI NATCON 2026 in Kolkata.
He specifically pointed to the Urban Land Ceiling framework as an impediment and said organised developers would be needed for the large projects planned for the state. “We invite you to come, invest and develop my city and my state,” Dasgupta said.
His remarks came as the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India brought its flagship three-day convention to Kolkata, putting the eastern Indian market under the national real estate industry’s spotlight. The convention is focused on AI, innovation, investment and the changing requirements of India’s cities.
CREDAI President Shekhar G. Patel said Kolkata’s position as an economic centre and gateway to eastern India could become more important as infrastructure and connectivity improve.
He said stronger transport links and economic corridors could connect emerging cities with larger development networks and open opportunities in housing, commercial activity and investment.
Technology was another major thread at the convention, with AI increasingly being used in sales and marketing, project planning, construction monitoring, customer engagement and decision-making.
Patel said the industry should look beyond simply adopting new technology. “The opportunity is not simply to adopt new technologies, but to use them meaningfully to build a more productive, transparent and future-ready sector,” he said.
The technology push is being accompanied by an emphasis on construction skills. CREDAI CSR Foundation and Tata Capital Housing Finance Ltd have partnered to train around 1,250 construction workers.
The programme contributes to CREDAI’s larger target of training 50,000 construction workers during the current financial year.
CREDAI Chairman Boman Irani said the industry’s technology transition would have to be matched by investment in people. “The adoption of new technologies has to be accompanied by investment in the skills of the people who will use them,” Irani said.
For Kolkata, the convention comes against a broader push to attract investment into housing, infrastructure and urban development.
CREDAI Kolkata represents more than 200 developers and has been advocating policy changes, including easing Urban Land Ceiling provisions, to facilitate larger projects in West Bengal.
