The Hindu Business Line : TN textile, engg units urged to set up projects in West Bengal

Coimbatore, April 1 The West Bengal Government has welcomed the textile industries and light engineering units from Tamil Nadu to invest in that State by taking advantage of the infrastructure and raw material back-up available there.

The offer was made by the West Bengal Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, during a meeting the representatives of the apex textile forum Southern India Mills Association (SIMA) and the Coimbatore District Small Scale Industries Association (Codissia) had with him here today in which members of a few other entrepreneur bodies such as the Indian Wind Power Association also took part.

Briefing press persons after the meeting held in the campus of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University here, the West Bengal Industries and Commerce Minister, Mr Nirupam Sen, said the textile and light engineering units, including those in the auto components manufacturing sectors, in Coimbatore remained fairly advanced and his Government was particularly keen that the textile sector, which has huge potential to create employment, especially for women, sets up its downstream units in Bengal.

Facilities

The Minister also highlighted some of the facilities being created in West Bengal such as the State Government’s proposal to establish textile park/cluster projects with common facilities and broadbasing its petrochemical manufacturing sector that would throw opportunity to establish downstream synthetic fibre units. “We are in the process of promoting the petro-chemical industry like those in Gujarat that will give an opportunity for downstream projects using synthetic fibre as feedstock for value added products,” Mr Sen said adding the State Government had already received a few proposals from industries for starting synthetic fibre projects.

The SIMA representatives sought a special package for the textile industry to plan their investment in West Bengal and, according to Mr Sen, among the incentives sought were uninterrupted, quality power supply at reasonable cost and affordable transport cost for moving cotton, the prime raw material.

Describing the discussion at the meeting as ‘good’ and the response from the textile industry as ‘positive’, Mr Nirupam Sen said that it had been proposed that an industry delegation from Coimbatore can go over to West Bengal to explore the scope for investment in projects there.

(The SIMA team at the meeting was led by its chairman, Dr K.V. Srinivasan, and the Codissia delegation was led by its president, Mr Muthusamy)

Mr M.V. Rao, Managing Director of West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation Ltd, who was also present at the meeting said that with new investments in steel and power projects coming up, the availability of power and also the steel production capacity were poised to go up and this has encouraged the State Government to promote engineering clusters. The State is planning foundry clusters and engineering park (for auto components at Kharagpur and Durgapur).

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