Proposal for industrial estate in Balurghat

Kolkata: With Bengal having the highest number of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) in the country, the West Bengal Small Industries Development Corporation (WBSIDC) has received a proposal to set up an industrial estate in South Dinajpur's Balurghat area.

With the creation of necessary infrastructure in the past six years that ensured growth in the MSME sector in both North and South Bengal districts, entrepreneurs in large numbers are showing interest in acquiring space in the industrial parks of the corporation.

Similarly, a section of successful entrepreneurs including those from South Dinajpur district had approached the district administration with a proposal to set up an industrial estate at Balurghat, the district headquarter.

It may be mentioned that at present there are a total of 40 industrial parks and estates under the supervision of the corporation and includes three upcoming ones — Dabgram in Jalpaiguri, Malda Silk Park and at Khasjungle in West Midnapore.

The total area of land on which the industrial estates are situated is around 697 acre and it will increase further if the proposed one in Balurghat comes up.

Sources said the District Magistrate of South Dinajpur district wrote to the authorities of the corporation a few days ago with a proposal to set up the industrial estate where MSME units will come up.

It has been learnt that there will be no problem in getting plots in the district for the same. It has also been stated that a major portion of the land is already available and the necessary work to set up the industrial estate can begin very soon.

Now, the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the industrial estate needs to be prepared and subsequently, the proposal will be sent to the state Finance department for its clearance.

Though the estimated cost to develop the proposed industrial estate at Balurghat can be calculated only after the DPR is ready, according to a senior official, it takes around Rs 10 to Rs 15 crore to develop the necessary infrastructure of an industrial estate.

Meanwhile, WBSIDC, which is under the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise and Textiles department, has developed an online platform from where entrepreneurs can get all sorts of information related to all the industrial estates and parks.

The revamped website of the corporation has been launched and it will work as a single window gateway of all services to entrepreneurs.

This comes at the time when Bengal has topped again in ease of doing business among all the states in the country.