Govt eyeing more investment in leather sector: Mamata

Kolkata: The state government is emphasising on the development of infrastructure to garner more investment in the leather sector at Bantala. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the leather sector, which already employs 1.20 lakh people, will have an additional employment of around 3 lakh in the days to come.

"There have been more than 1,000 applications for expansion in the leather sector, for which around 350 acres of land needs to be allocated. We have already started work for identifying land and at the same time, developing infrastructure for water supply and other requisites to fructify quick investment. It has the potential to generate employment of 3 lakh people," Banerjee said after chairing the cabinet meeting at Nabanna on Monday.

It may be mentioned that Kanpur leather is gearing up to set up a project in Bengal at an approximate cost of Rs 1,000 crore, where more than 6,000 people would get employment.

The state government will be investing around Rs 350 crore, aiming to modernise and expand the existing Calcutta Leather Complex located in Bantala. It may be mentioned that supply of raw hides for the leather sector in Kanpur has dried up with the government shutting down all small and big butcheries in Uttar Pradesh. The leather industry is trying to shift to Bengal and has held a number of meetings with state Finance and Industry minister Amit Mitra.

Banerjee also announced that e-commerce giant Flipkart's investment of Rs 991 crore for setting up a logistic hub at Haringhata in Nadia has been finalised. "The land is being handed over and the logistic hub will employ 10,000 people," Banerjee said.

West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation will allot 100 acres on long-term lease to Flipkart, which is now majority owned by US-based Walmart, the world's largest retailer. This will be the second such centre for the company after Bangalore, servicing the entire eastern market. They had seen five locations in Bengal but finally chose Haringhata because of the locational advantages. Haringhata industrial park is spread over 358 acres on NH-34.