ENTREPRENEURIAL ECOSYSTEM ASSESSMENT IN WEST BENGAL: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF FORGING & FOUNDRY, LEATHER, AND TEXTILE SECTORS

Abstract

This study assesses the entrepreneurial ecosystem in West Bengal with a focus on three critical sectors: forging & foundry, leather, and textiles, to identify attributes that enable MSME success. Using a positivist, deductive approach, primary data were collected through a structured survey of 301 entrepreneurs and analysed using SPSS, including reliability testing and factor analysis. The findings reveal sectoral disparities in infrastructure, skill availability, financial access, and inclusivity as key determinants of entrepreneurial performance. Land acquisition, permits, and power reliability constrain forging & foundry yet serve as critical success prerequisites when present. Textiles benefit from traditional clusters but face skill modernization gaps, while leather enterprises leverage labour abundance despite financial underservice. Credit schemes such as CGTMSE and ECLGS show potential but limited accessibility, while inclusivity mechanisms for women and minorities remain weak in practice. The research confirms significant sectoral differences, meeting its aim of ecosystem evaluation and identifying success-enabling attributes, offering targeted policy recommendations to strengthen infrastructure, finance, skills, and inclusivity in West Bengal’s industrial landscape. The study identifies infrastructure reliability (particularly power and transport), skilled labour access, effective financial scheme navigation, and regulatory efficiency as primary success attributes, with sector-specific variations: power supply proves critical for forging & foundry competitiveness, transport infrastructure for textile market access, and artisanal skill preservation for leather enterprise sustainability.