Master plan ready for Bengal biz township – Times of India

Kolkata: The West Bengal government is ready with a master plan for the proposed industrial township in Raghunathpur and has started an initiative for environmental clearance.
Jangal Sundari Karmanagari, the industrial park announced by chief minister Mamata Banerjee, will attract investment of Rs 1,148 crore for creating basic infrastructure. This was disclosed on Wednesday by Bengal finance and industries minister Amit Mitra at Synergie South Bengal, organized by WBIDC in association with CII, Eastern Region.
In the state budget presented by the CM earlier this week, a special industrial corridor was planned from Dankuni to Asansol via Burdwan-Durgapur on one side and Barjora-Bankura to Raghunathpur in Purulia district on the other side. The state’s first industrial township will be built on 2,483 acres of WBIDC land at Raghunathpur.
According to Mitra, an SPV would be formed for the township and Bengal would have equity of Rs 558 crore as the valuation of land. The rest would be with investors who would set up projects in the industrial corridor.
Mitra pointed out the state had initially earmarked over 2,600 acres in Raghunathpur area following the Centre’s request for Amritsar-Haldia freight corridor. But due to delay in that project, the CM decided to go ahead with an industrial township. “It will be a game changer for the state. We shall create facilities like road, water, electricity, greenery — along with stakeholders — in the township,” he said.
The township is expected to attract investment of over Rs 70,000 crore and will generate employment for 1.5 lakh people. According to Mitra, industries earmarked for Raghunathpur include cement (both grinding and integrated plants), auto component, engineering, MSME clusters, ceramics and electricals.
The minister claimed that South Bengal had attracted investment of Rs 2,000 crore during the Covid period. “This investment proposal was received in the middle of Covid (pandemic),” Mitra said.
On Borjora industrial park in Bankura, Mitra said it now had 430 acres that would go up by 25 acres. The total investment potential in Borjora was Rs 1,500 crore. “We should set a target of Rs 2,000 crore for Borjora. There should be a mid-year review about Borjora park in November,” he added.
The meeting was attended by WBIDC chairman Rajiva Sinha, MSME secretary Rajesh Pandey and industry secretary Vandana Yadav.
Meanwhile, Mitra also assured steel industry representatives from South Bengal that the CM would take up with the Centre the issue of iron ore scarcity. “Steel industry here is facing a major problem following a decision of the Centre that led to closure of 21 merchant mines in Odisha. The total demand was for 40 million tonnes but industry here is getting only 5 million tonnes. It is really sad,” he said.
According to Mitra, Bengal exports 13% of the country’s steel, and the industry employs over 2.5 lakh people here and has a turnover of over Rs 65,000 crore.