State govt to create more infrastructure at industrial parks

Kolkata: The state government has taken up a project to create additional infrastructure in the industrial parks that has been functioning for the past many years to provide more amenities to micro, small and medium scale entrepreneurs.

This comes at the time when the state has witnessed a bank credit flow of Rs 1,30,825 crore to the micro, small and medium scale enterprises (MSME) between 2011-12 and 2016-17 fiscal. With the constant growth in the sector in the past six years, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has urged businessmen and industrials also to invest in the sector.

According to a senior state government official, the step has been taken to create additional infrastructure in a number of industrial parks under the West Bengal Small Industries Development Corporation (WBSIDC).

"These are the industrial parks where several MSME units are functional and thousands of people are employed. Now, steps have been taken up to provide better amenities to the existing units," the official said adding that it will help in improving the condition in the industrial parks and at the same time, it will also help in bring an overall change in the present state of affairs.

First of all, the roads in the industrial parks will be widened and strengthened. Completion of the task of improving the road condition will ensure a better inter-connectivity between different units within the premises of the industrial parks situated on many acres of land. It has been decided that new streetlights will be installed and there will be no surface drainage system in the industrial parks. Instead, there will be underground drainage systems and it will be built in such a way that the underground drains do not get clogged all of a sudden.

Moreover, there will be pavements with paver blocks that will give a new look to the entire area and at the same time, pedestrians will not have to worry as mini-trucks and trucks always keep plying on the thoroughfares in the industrial parks.

Interestingly, one administrative building will also be set up in each of the industrial park. The building will house banks, ATM counters, food courts and an office of the local body of the industrial parks. Setting up of a bank and an ATM counter in the industrial park itself will be of great help for owners of the units in the parks.

The official said that this year there is a plan to develop the infrastructure in the industrial parks including Kalyani Industrial Park – Phase I, II and III, Malda Commercial Estate, Durgapur Rural Industrial Estate and Raiganj Commercial Estate. At present, work is on in the industrial parks that include Kasba Phase I, II and III, Siliguri, Behala and Baltiguri.