West Bengal - Economy and Project Developments

[Suncity]

Bengal the best place to invest, promises Partha

http://www.telegraphindia.com/112051...y_15492323.jsp

It’s been a year since you took charge, what is the one achievement that you would say has been the highlight of the year?

The major achievement since we assumed office would be restoring the confidence of investors in Bengal so that they think this is the best place in India to invest.

Does the state have any plans to make sure that Infosys doesn’t lose interest in West Bengal now that SEZ is out of the question?

I have said many times that it is our commitment to see that Infosys has its set-up in Bengal and the government is keen to protect the company’s interest.

I have already written to (Union minister of commerce and industry) Anand Sharma, on the advice of the chief minister, to extend the STPI (Software Technology Parks of India) incentive schemes, which, according to me, are a better financial deal than SEZ. I sent the letter on May 6. I have spoken to them and expect a positive response.

There is not much happening in terms of industry in the state. Is that primarily because of the government’s land policy or an overall lack of investor confidence?

Who says not much is happening? We have got proposals worth Rs 1 lakh crore in just a year…what does that say?
The perception about Bengal has gone through a sea change. The change has happened because of the present government’s assurance, because the government is taking into account the urgency of investors and introducing hassle-free services. We are not staying confined within four walls but going out to the people and meeting them and inviting them to come to West Bengal.

Can you give us examples of some projects that have started rolling in the last one year?

There is Tractors India. But how can an industry start rolling in a year? It takes three years to get an industry going. All the companies have started work. Putting up a boundary wall means work has started but it has to be completed within three years from the date of financial disclosure.

Are there any exciting new proposals?

Both the Hindusthan National Glass project and the Matrix project had moved out of Bengal but have since come back. Jindal had also left in 2007, but the company is now reviving its project once again.

With Hillary Clinton’s visit are you expecting interest from American investors?

Clinton or no Clinton, there has been interest in the IT sector. We have one of the largest talent pools in IT. American companies such as Accenture and Cognizant are already there. Many Bengalis who had settled in America have come back.

Finally, what is Partha Chatterjee’s message to local and global investors?

West Bengal is the best place to invest…

Had the HNG, Jindal and Matrix projects "moved out" or "left"?

A few months back when the govt spoke of proposed investments it was 80,000 crores in nine months [as reported by the Governor of West Bengal in March 2012]. In just two months it is now 100,000 crores as reported by the Industry minister. The numbers are just going up in leaps and bounds. This is great news for West Bengal.

[Rajarshi77]

Receiving investment proposals worth Rs. 1 lakhs crores has no meaning. What matters is how much investment has happened on ground. Don't know abt HNG, Jindal & Matix moving out. Jindal project was stuck because of land issue. That has been solved now

[niljee]

Originally Posted by Rajarshi77

Udit Prasanna Mukherji | TNN

Kolkata: After almost a decade,ITC,the biggest corporate house in the east and one of the top business conglomerates in India,is betting big on Bengal.The over 22,000-crore tobacco-to-hospitality giant plans to set up five manufacturing facilities for its foods business in the state.


The combined investment for these facilities would be around 1,000 crore,the biggest by the corporate giant in the state in recent times.
If it materializes,say industry experts,this could set the pace for industrialization in Bengal once again after the Singur setback.

Kurush Grant,the executive director of ITC,told TOI that the new FMCG division of the company had started the process of setting up two food units of its own.Besides,it is in talks with a few partners for three contract manufacturing facilities for different food items.

We shall have most of the units within 50-60 sqkm of Kolkata.Bengal is an ideal place for investment in the foods business.It has most of the raw materials as well as goods market.This is the entry point to the northeast, he added.

According to Grant,ITC already has two contract facilities in Bengal and is planning half-a-dozen more in view of growing demand.He indicated that the company,which has the highest weightage in the sensex along with Reliance Industries,may form joint ventures for the contract manufacturing facilities here.This (joint venture) is a possibility we are exploring for the contract manufacturing units.This can solve the land problem.We can tie up with those who have land with them, he added.

ITC had in fact expressed interest in setting up a food facility in Bengal way back in 2006 near National Highway No 6,but the plan was deferred because of unavailability of land.The West Bengal Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (WBIIDC) had earmarked 40 acres for the project,which was found to be disputed.

Later,WBIIDC allotted 18 acres at Uluberia industrial estate.The Mamata Banerjee government has also offered land to the FMCG giant near Santiniketan.

We shall start work at Uluberia.Regarding Santiniketan,we are yet to take a call,but the industry department is really cooperating with us, Grant said.

ITC should play the same role in Kolkata as Reliance does in Bombay.

[Rajarshi77]

Originally Posted by niljee

ITC should play the same role in Kolkata as Reliance does in Bombay.

ITC is a Board managed company. Whereas Reliance is promoter driven company. Whatever Mukesh says gets implemented. Also I don't think Reliance has paid any stellar role in Bombay other than setting up their Reliance campus in Navi Mumbai. They have played large role in establishing Gujarat by promoting Jamnanagr in a big way and supporting Narendra Modi in every business platform.

[niljee]

Originally Posted by Rajarshi77

ITC is a Board managed company. Whereas Reliance is promoter driven company. Whatever Mukesh says gets implemented. Also I don't think Reliance has paid any stellar role in Bombay other than setting up their Reliance campus in Navi Mumbai. They have played large role in establishing Gujarat by promoting Jamnanagr in a big way and supporting Narendra Modi in every business platform.

Well, Gujarat then

[ayan92]

Minister meets district magistrates to speed up rural works

TNN | May 23, 2012
KOLKATA: With eyes on the ensuing panchayat polls, state panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee on Tuesday held a meeting in the city with all district magistrates and panchayat zilla sabhadhipatis, asking them to speed up work in the three tier system.

Implementation of work for 11,000 km of rural roads, fixing the number of below poverty line (BPL) people in the state, increasing the number of areas where work can be done under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), raising total amount of funds that can be sanctioned by the DMs, were some of the issues discussed at the meeting.

Interestingly, Mukherjee's challenge was to get all the sabhadhipatis, even those from the opposition, to join the meeting on Tuesday. And they all attended the meeting. So, the Centre can now clear road projects because getting the nod and participation of all panchayats was one of the conditions placed by Delhi.

State government wants work of at least half of the 11,000 km of rural roads to be started by the end of this year, and the detailed project report (DPR) on the rest will be submitted by that time as well.

Centre's deadline for DPR submission for the 5,500km roads projects is June 14 and the rest by December. This suits the state fine because by then work for a major portion of roads may be over, even if the poll date is fixed for December instead of May next year. - considering there are already such speculations.

Total work would be worth several crores and the DPR for all the roads would itself cost approximately Rs 10 crore.

In addition, the government also has sanction for roads in three 'special backward regions' - Purulia, Bankura and West Midnapore. These roads will be constructed in areas which have population of more than 200. "It means many interior villages too will have roads," Mukherjee said, adding that for some places many people have been fighting for construction of a single road for years. According to him, there will be only black top roads, and 'no morrum roads'.

Tuesday's discussion also involved completion of the BPL survey and the nitty-gritties of MGNREGA project among other issues.

The state government is currently conducting a survey on the BPL list and this would be ready by June, Mukherjee said. While the former Left Front government had said the BPL population in the state is 46.6%, the Centre maintained the figure at 28.3% and all Central funds for BPL are sanctioned on the basis of this figure. Now, the state is following the same criteria as the Centre but feels the figure should increase. "And if it does, we'll have to give the benefits of BPL to the remaining number of people from our own funds even if the Centre does not accept our finding," Mukherjee said.

The DMs were told on Tuesday to introduce new areas under which work can be done in the MGNREGA according to change of weather. Now, with the advent of monsoon, the work will be related to horticulture, and there is also work in the tea gardens, mangrove forests, small irrigation, and plans to introduce MGNREGA even for cutting paddy.

[soumalya747]

IISCO phase-I expansion to be over by this month
TIMES NEWS NETWORK




Kolkata: The first phase of the muchtalked-about Rs 16,000-crore expansion plan of SAIL’s IISCO Burnpur will be completed by end of this month. IISCO CEO N K Jha on Tuesday met state commerce and industries minister Partha Chatterjee and urged him to inaugurate the coke oven plant built in phase I. The expansion plan was announced during the first UPA regime by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in June 2006.
Incidentally, the project was delayed owing to various reasons, including land acquisition and local agitation in an area called Purushottampur regarding a 0.19 acre in the middle of projected area of expansion, which villagers believe to be a holy place. There was a cost overrun following the delay that escalated the project cost to Rs 16,000 crore from Rs 10,000 crore estimated in 2007, the biggest investment proposal by a PSU in Bengal in many years.
After meeting the IISCO CEO on Tuesday, Chatterjee told reporters that finally, first phase of IISCO will be operational. “There was a problem regarding shifting of some area outside the projected site. We have spoken to the villagers and the issue will be resolved soon. IISCO will recruit 2,500 people for the new plants,” he said.
IISCO CEO Jha said it has sought time from Chatterjee for inaugarating the coke oven plant. “We are almost ready with the plant and hopefully it should be operational in few weeks,” he added. “IISCO has already spent Rs 13,000 crore out of the proposed Rs 16,000 crore expansion plan. For coke oven plant, we have invested Rs 1,600 crore. The entire expansion of IISCO will be finished by end of this fiscal. Following coke oven, the wire rod mill will be operational by August-September of this year. There will be an investment of Rs 1,100 crore for this,” he added.
Meanwhile, the state government is preparing a report for revival of the five beleagured tea gardens (three in the Hills and two in Dooars) under the aegis West Bengal Tea Development Corporation. The revival plan will be submitted to the Chief Minister’s Office soon. GJM MLA from Kurseong Rohit Sharma on Tuesday met Chatterjee and placed a three-fold demand. GJM wants a pay revision for around 5,000 WBTDC employees, revival of the tea gardens through public-private initiatives and filling up the job vacancies.

[soumalya747]

JSW lease deed soon



Kolkata: Bengal industries minister Partha Chatterjee said it has already informed JSW Group that the state government is ready to sign the lease deed for its 3 million tonne steel project this week. “It will be signed any day,” he added. However, Chatterjee was sceptical about the proposed Jai Balaji Group project. Despite repeated reminders, Jai Balaji has not shown any interest to sign the lease agreement though it has already got land and coal mines, he said. When contacted, Jai Balaji CMD Aditya Jajodia said there are 3-4 points in the lease agreement which they want to change. TNN

[NiladriG]

Originally Posted by Suncity

Bengal the best place to invest, promises Partha

Best place on earth to invest.

[roy2010]

SAIL inks JV pact
with Burn Standard

25 May 2012 , By Special Correspondent

Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL),
on Friday, signed a joint venture
agreement with Burn Standard
Company Limited (BSCL), a unit under
Indian Railways, for setting up a
wagon components manufacturing
facility at Jellingham in West Bengal's
Purba Medinipore district.
SAIL Chairman C. S. Verma told
reporters that the outlay on this unit
would be about Rs.200 crore. Given
the state's supportive and positive
environment, SAIL, however, was keen
to increase its investments here.
Special steel unit
It would like to set up a special steel
unit in West Bengal, where it already
has investments of over Rs.20,000
crore under implementation. The joint
venture unit would have a capacity to
produce 10,000 bogies and 10,000
couplers per annum.
The agreement for the new joint
venture was signed in the presence of
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee,
Railways Minister Mukul Roy, the SAIL
Chairman and Railway Board Member
(Mechanical) Keshav Chandra.
Ms. Banerjee urged that the joint
venture's implementation schedule be
advanced by a year to 2013, as it
would lead to the area's overall
development. She said that she had
announced the project in her 2010
budget speech and Railways had
assured annual offtake for 5,000 units.
“It is praiseworthy that SAIL is
investing Rs. 21,000 crore in Durgapur
and Burnpur”, she said.
She also said that all the RAIL projects
announced for West Bengal were
progressing well. “ This should silence
the Doubting Thomases”, she said.
Mr. Chandra said that the project
assumed special significance
considering the fact that bogies and
couplers were in short supply.
Mr. Verma said that SAIL was keen to
explore the opportunity to set up a
special steel unit in Kulti near Asansol
in West Bengal which would make
high-end applications.
Modernisation
SAIL will take its hot metal capacity to
19 million tonnes by March 2013 from
14 million tonnes, as its massive
modernisation programme makes
headway.
Mr. Verma said the Rs.72,000-crore
modernisation programme was a
unique one. He said orders had been
placed for Rs.58,000 crore.
To a query on delays in the
modernisation plan, he said, “It was a
unique programme and expectations
have been high”.
He said the implementation of the 2.5-
million tonne greenfield project at
Burnpur (the erstwhile Indian Iron
and Steel Plant) had run into some
delays but would now get
implemented in an integrated manner
by March 2013 (instead of June 2012),
at an investment of Rs.16,000 crore.
This is the timeline for the completion
of the Rs.3,000 crore modernisation
programme of Durgapur steel plant
also.

source: m.thehindu.com/business/companies/article3456497.ece/?page=1

[Rajarshi77]

Three cheers for SAIL. Infact they are the largest investor in Bengal.

[AbhishekDatta]

Keventer Group plans Rs 700-cr food park in Bengal
KOLKATA, MAY 26:

Keventer Group plans to invest Rs 700 crore for setting up a food park at Dankuni in West Bengal. To be spread over 530 acres, the food park will be commissioned over the next five years. “We will invest Rs 600-700 crore to develop a food park at Dankuni. And, there will be an investment of Rs 3,500 crore at the facility,” Mr Mayank Jalan, Managing Director, Keventer Agro Ltd, said on Saturday. The company on Saturday launched a food testing laboratory, Edward Food and Research and Analysis Centre Ltd, and a manufacturing unit for Yippee noodles jointly with ITC Ltd at Barasat. This facility will entail a total investment of nearly Rs 150 crore.

The West Bengal Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Partha Chatterjee, confirmed that the State Government received a proposal from the company and it was in conversation for allocation of land for the upcoming food park.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...cle3459003.ece

[NiladriG]

Originally Posted by AbhishekDatta

Keventer Group plans Rs 700-cr food park in Bengal
KOLKATA, MAY 26:

Keventer Group plans to invest Rs 700 crore for setting up a food park at Dankuni in West Bengal. To be spread over 530 acres, the food park will be commissioned over the next five years. “We will invest Rs 600-700 crore to develop a food park at Dankuni. And, there will be an investment of Rs 3,500 crore at the facility,” Mr Mayank Jalan, Managing Director, Keventer Agro Ltd, said on Saturday. The company on Saturday launched a food testing laboratory, Edward Food and Research and Analysis Centre Ltd, and a manufacturing unit for Yippee noodles jointly with ITC Ltd at Barasat. This facility will entail a total investment of nearly Rs 150 crore.

The West Bengal Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Partha Chatterjee, confirmed that the State Government received a proposal from the company and it was in conversation for allocation of land for the upcoming food park.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...cle3459003.ece

Good proposal, but what about the land availability.

[AbhishekDatta]

They already have land....it is only after the push from govt. they are willing to invest more and not to sit on the land..

[Rajarshi77]

530 acres!! Where is the land

[Rajarshi77]

Kool.. if they have the land.. infact they are putting up a food park in Bihar..

[Suncity]

1995 to 2015 ?



news from 2000 and the foundation stone was laid in 1995 - same old issue of land!

Bengal food park tingles taste buds of cos abroad

http://www.thehindubusinessline.in/2...s/14221884.htm

THE country's first integrated food processing park, which is being set up in West Bengal has drawn interest from a host of overseas outfits, with at least one international food major seeking an equity stake.

Mr. Kalyan Dutta, Managing Director of Modular Industrial Infrastructure Ltd (MIIL), the company implementing the project, said the idea of setting up an integrated food park had now caught on, and the Centre was set to catalyse the setting up of similar projects _ one in every State capital.

A Rs. 3-crore grant has been received from the Union Food Processing Ministry for developing the food park here, Mr. Dutta told Business Line.

The consultancy services for the project is being provided by Modular Consultants Pvt Ltd (MCPL), a consortium of Indian and overseas companies. ``While MCPL is the leader of the consortium, the other members are Eco-Vision of Canada, Machenfabrik Moller s of Germany and Hipoint Rendel of the UK. Talks are now on with some other companies based here and abroad, for expanding the expertise base''.

While the Canadian company will help out with the R&D centre, the German company will advise on packaging and storage. Hipoint's expertise lies in infrastructure development and Fugro's specialisation is in setting up geographical information systems and environmental engineering.

Mr. Dutta said Mitsubishi of Japan, through its Indian subsidiary Snowman had already begun construction of a 1,200-tonne capacity cold storage which would act as a common facility for the units to be located here.

I-Win, the joint venture of ICICI and the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation, is currently working out the corporate structure of the promoting company, MIIL. I-WIN advice has been sought to decide on the debt-equity ratio and the internal re source generation necessary for implementing this Rs. 204-crore project, (according to earlier estimates). Currently, MIIL is a public ltd company whose equity is held by Mr. Dutta, Simplex Engineering and M.R. Singhvi Associates.

Observing that the project is expected to suffer a cost escalation of at least 20 per cent due to the delay in implementation, he said every effort had been taken to make up for the nearly four-year delay.

The project, whose foundation stone was laid by Mr. Jyoti Basu in April 1995, is set to be ready in around five years. However, primarily on account of land acquisition problems the project's schedule slipped and now it is expected to be ready by 2003.

Since this is the country's first major growth centre being set up in the private sector, some amendments were necessary in the land amendment laws. This took some time in coming and against the project's requirement of 530 acres, physical possession of only around 93 acres has so far been obtained. However, the West Bengal Government through a notification has removed some of the legal hurdles and the land acquisition part is expected to be completed shortly.

The park is coming up in Dankuni in Hooghly district. It will locate food processing industries with common facilities, such as a R&D centre, a common effluent treatment plant and common social infrastructure too. All these will be constructed in the fir st phase of the project comprising 220 acres.

Referring to the advance actions which have been taken, he informed that the water supply has already been tied up from the Sreerampore filtration plant which is three km away. Pipelines have been laid up to the project.

Its water requirement has been estimated at two million gallons per day with around one million gallon being required in the first phase. Power supply agreement has been finalised with the West Bengal State Electricity Board. The power requirement is 25 MW. Pollution Control Board approval has also been obtained.

2002

http://www.financialexpress.com/news...tables/55836/3

Meanwhile, Mr Sarkar admitted that the much-hyped food park at Dankuni has been a non-starter, and the government is trying to work out a smaller project at the same site.

Modular Industrial Infras-tructure Ltd, the company setting up the park, had failed to acquire contiguous plots of land adding up to 530 acres, the area suggested in the project proposal.

Here is some old news from the company website which states it was supposed to be completed in 2008!

http://www.modularindia.com/Foodpark.php

Food Park (MFP) Project


The company has conceived, designed and planned the first integrated Food Park in the country with three industrial clusters in Food Sectors Post Harvest Management system like –

• Food Processing Park
• Foodgrain Park
• Technology Park
This integrated Food Park is being developed as the nucleus facility towards integration of food sector supply chain and value chain in the 3-tier infrastructure for procurement, storage, processing, packaging and distribution of food commodities by providing latest technology and quality management systems.

MFP, Dankuni has been planned on 530 acres of land and is located in one of the most suitable locations with access infrastructure like Eastern Railways network, NH 2 Bypass, Durgapur – Haldia Expressway / NH 6 linkage river Hooghly and Bally canal.

The promoters’ team is now being restructured with Keventer Projects Ltd. as Anchor Promoter and the company as the Prime Consultant of the project of national priority and importance.

MFP, Dankuni will be implemented fully in phases by end 2008. It will accommodate around 150 food processing units and cold chain facilities in large, medium and small sectors. Government of India has already provided Grant-in-aid to this project to set up common infrastructures like water supply system, cold storage and common infrastructures.

[AbhishekDatta]

Mamata inaugurates diesel locomotive factory
PTI | 08:05 PM,May 28,2012

Dankuni (WB), May 28 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today inaugurated a diesel locomotive component factory here, 20 km from Singur, which she had promised to set up when she was the railway minister. The factory will manufacture components for diesel locomotives built at Diesel Locomotive Works, Varanasi. Railway Minister Mukul Roy and Railway Board Chairman V N Mittal were present during the inauguration. The project was sanctioned in 2009-10 when Banerjee was the railway minister. She had laid the foundation of the factory on December 26, 2010 and the project was completed within a record time of two years. Promising to set up 15 more such railway projects, Banerjee dismissed the CPI-M's reservations over her announcement of projects for West Bengal. "In 2009-10 when I was the railway minister, many people had ridiculed this project after I laid the foundation and described it as a mere 'eye-wash'. But now you see this factory has started functioning," she told a gathering here. She said that work on 15 other rail projects, including two projects at budge budge, Metro Railway Rehabilitation Centre at Noapara, Rs 1000 crore railway factory at Kanchrapara, projcts at Haldia, Siliguri and Coochebehar and an industrial park at Jellingham would be completed shortly. Banerjee said she had a vision for a political change in the state and accordingly prepared railway projects much ahead of the actual political change took place for generating lakhs of of employement. "I had realised that nothing can be done on a dead infrastructure," she said.

http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfee...y/1004401.html

[Suncity]

CM admits land clog in industry - Mamata lays stress on public sector

http://www.telegraphindia.com/112052...y_15544744.jsp

Mamata Banerjee today said private investors “are staying away from Bengal because land is not available for them”.
However, she laid stress on the importance of public sector projects — the state has attracted some — saying “public sector investment is also investment”.
As railway minister, I had commissioned 16 factories. Others are staying away from Bengal because land is not available for them. But these are government projects and they are materialising. These 16 factories will bring industrialisation to Bengal. Public sector investment is also investment.”

Mamata inaugurated a diesel loco-component factory and laid the foundation of an electric loco-component factory in Dankuni.

"Once the dedicated freight corridor is ready, Dankuni will become an important place. Factories will come up in Hooghly, Burdwan, Howrah and Birbhum. Employment opportunities will increase once these projects are completed. There will be no dearth of employment opportunities,” she said.

Mamata said she was committed to setting up a railway project on the Singur plot where the abandoned Tata Nano plant is located and returning land to unwilling farmers.

[AbhishekDatta]

This is another yellow journalism...the main news of inauguration is just a footnote... whereas this sidetalks become headlines ....