Mamata Announces New Park & Steel Investments in West Bengal

Kolkata, May 14 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that the Cabinet cleared the proposal of setting up an international standard park on over 25 acres of land in New Town area near here.

Banerjee said that the park would be named International Information Technology Entertainment and Cultural Park, where artists from around the globe will perform.

The Cabinet also gave its nod on the allotment of industrial parks to steel companies.

"I am announcing that the state government, along with the HIDCO, will set up the International Information Technology Entertainment and Cultural Park in PPP mode on over 25 acres of land. It will be called IITEC or Biswa Angan (in Bengali)," she told reporters at the state secretariat after the Cabinet meeting.

Emphasising that the concert economy is an innovative idea nowadays, the CM said that the park will have all the infrastructure to host exhibitions and cultural events.

"There was a demand for such a park for a long time. But getting such a large land is not easy. This will boost tourism, entertainment, and creativity," she said, adding that the process of calling a tender for the project would soon start.

The Cabinet also approved allotment of 43 plots across 15 industrial estates for MSMEs, Banerjee said.

"These will be in the districts, and several crores of rupees will be invested, generating a large number of employment. We are number one in the country (in the MSME sector). In 90 lakh units, around 1.40 crore people are working. There were 660 clusters, and many more people are looking for land," she said.


The chief minister said that the Cabinet gave its nod on the allotment of industrial parks to steel companies, which, she claimed, will attract investments to the tune of Rs 25,000 crore.


Over 70,000 direct and indirect jobs are expected to be created by that, she said.

"Our aim is quick industrialisation and creating more and more employment. Today the Cabinet decided to allot industrial plots to various companies. The total area of land is 2,515 acres. We decided to give land in Raghunathpur, Durgapur and Panagarh," she said.


The CM said that the Cabinet also cleared allotment of lands for construction of shopping malls where two floors would be earmarked for self-help groups to sell their products.

To support artisans and weavers and boost the MSME sector, the state government had earlier decided to provide one acre of land in each district of West Bengal for shopping malls, which will also have cinema theatres.

"Out of the 23 districts, we have cleared allotment of lands in 11. The 12 others are under process. Today clearance was allocated to the districts of Purulia, Darjeeling, Bankura, Cooch Behar, Howrah, Jalpaiguri, Jhargram, Murshidabad, Paschim Medinipur and Uttar Dinajpur," she said.

The CM said that if the state government gets a piece of land, a big market will be built in Digha where the new Jagannath Temple was inaugurated recently.