State eyes investment of Rs 200 cr, to generate jobs for about 5K people

Kolkata: The state government eyes an investment of at least Rs 200 crore with generation of around 5,000 direct and indirect job opportunities at the agro-industrial park at Singur following a marathon discussion in the pre-bid meeting held with interested entrepreneurs.

Around 70 entrepreneurs attended the pre-bid meeting, showing interest to set up units at the park spread over 11-acres at Singur's Mallickpur mouza, adjacent to National Highway 2, sources said. The 'pre-bid conference' was held at Shilpa Sadan on

January 8.

The entrepreneurs have presented proposals of setting up poultry feed, fertiliser, pesticide and food processing industries at the park. For each unit, as stated by the entrepreneurs in the meeting, 5 cottah to 1 acre is

required.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had announced setting up of the agro-industrial park on December 24 and the notice seeking "expression of interest" was floated on December 28.

Most of the investors have urged the state government to hand over plots to them after developing the basic infrastructure of the park, including levelling of land, construction of roads and arrangements for power

supply.

"The state government is giving two options to the investors. Either, they can take plot to develop their own set up or they can take a ready unit to run their operation. But most want to develop their own set up as per the requirement of individual units," said a senior state government official.

The West Bengal Small Industries Development Corporation (WBSIDC) is developing the agro-industrial park for setting up of the MSME units and it would take around 6 to 8 months to complete the basic infrastructure.

The entrepreneurs wanted to know about the procedure to get a plot, parameters for the same, deadline to set up units and investment required to get a plot.

"It would lead to direct employment of around 1,000 people and generate 4,000 indirect employment", the official said, adding that one can submit an expression of interest even after Friday and would get a plot if found fit and if any plot remains vacant after handing over to the applicants in the first phase.