Kolkata: The MSME & Textiles department has come up with the West Bengal Green Firecracker Manufacturing, Storage and Selling Scheme (WBGFMSS) with the provision of fiscal incentive of upto 90 per cent of the project cost of the green firework cluster in three installments. The state will also conduct vetting of the project estimate of the cluster.
The WBGFMSS scheme’s objective is to provide a safe and environment-friendly eco-system for manufacturing, storage and selling of green firecrackers and sparklers in the state, thereby generating scope of safe and sustainable employment leading to stable livelihood, wealth creation and education for the next generation. Lakhs of people in the state are dependent on the firecracker manufacturing industry for their livelihood.
In case stakeholders of any firecracker hub come up with their own purchased land, they will have to develop basic common infrastructure for catering to the needs of the members of the cluster.
The fiscal incentive will have an instalment of 20, 30 and 50 per cent on a reimbursement basis. The first instalment will be released after the completion of landfilling, boundary wall and internal road (if any). The second instalment will be released after 80 per cent of the land is allotted, the power connection is completed, and the drainage system in place while the final one will be released after all the units become operational on the land. The state government along with the district magistrates has started the identification of vacant land for such green firecracker clusters. Once identified the state will create the basic infrastructure including land filling on the land and transfer of the developed land to the SPV of the interested green firework clusters on a 30-year lease with applicable land premium, rent as may be approved by the state. If the stakeholders identify a suitable government land of their choice for setting up member units and approach the MSME department for construction permission of all necessary infrastructure at their own cost, the department will recommend the case for LTS (Long Term Lease) at a token salami similar to that received from West Bengal Small Industries Development Corporation Ltd. The lease rent will be fixed as per approved government valuation norms. A dedicated module will be pressed into service in the Silpa Sathi portal for online application for obtaining a license for manufacturing, storage and selling of firecrackers and for license renewal. The state will provide the fiscal benefits in connection with green firecrackers’ clusters under Banglashree scheme which will be amended as and when necessary. Training by NEERI is mandatory for all stakeholders of firecracker hubs. The state government however has allowed the setting up of temporary ‘selling hubs’ in vacant areas away from the locality during the run-up to the festive season.
The WBGFMSS has notified the constitution of a five-member district-level committee led by the District Magistrate and an eight-member state-level committee led by the state Chief Secretary to monitor the progress of the scheme periodically.
Many poor cracker makers do not have the space (land) which is required for the manufacture of green crackers. So the state has taken up a cluster-based approach so that these poor makers can be provided a common space.