The West Bengal Assembly will be holding a special session next week to pass the West Bengal Agricultural Produce Marketing (Regulation) (Amendment) Bill, 2014. The move will make way for private domestic players in rural marketing hubs.

The state’s Agricultural Marketing Minister Arup Roy informed, "We will allow only domestic capital in retail market under strict regulation. The state government, however, will not allow FDI in retail."

The minister said that the Bill, already referred for scrutiny to the Select Committee, has been cleared by the Select Committee with three amendments moved by the Government Chief Whip Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay.

It is widely believed that passage of the Bill moved by the Mamata Banerjee government could draw attention of prospective investors.