Consultant to study Bengal infrastructure

Special focus on north Bengal districts

West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) and the government of West Bengal (GoWB) will employ a consulting firm to review the status of infrastructure in the state.

"This exercise is the first of its kind taken up by a state focusing on physical and social infrastructure. The government is in the process of closing the application for EOI," said Ashok Bhattacharya, West Bengal's minister in charge of urban development and municipal affairs.

"This evaluation will highlight weaknesses, identify projects suited to different areas and suggest private-public partnership models," Gopal Krishna, managing director of WBIDC, explained.

The appointment of a consultant would further delay the overdue improvement of the state's infrastructure, industry sources warned in response to the minister's statement.

A study funded by a UK government agency and executed by ICRA Management Consulting Services had already analysed the issue, they added.

WBIDC was planning a special drive to promote the six districts of north Bengal as a centre of trade and commerce owing to their strategic location en route to the Nathu La pass on the China broder.

The proposed Delhi-Myanmar-Thailand highway would pass through north Bengal, and a Bangladesh connector via Changrabandha and Phulbari was under consideration.

North Bengal was situated between Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, he pointed out.

West Bengal has put forward a proposal to the Centre seeking special concessions for the six districts of the type offered to Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal.

The Siliguri-Jalpaiguri Development Authority was planning a cargo handling facility at Bagdogra airport, for which Rs 3 crore had already been sanctioned.

Bengal would also like Bagdogra airport to be given international status .

A special facility at Siliguri at an estimated cost of Rs 30 crore as a public-private partnership project to facilitate transportation of tea, flowers and vegetables was also under study.

West Bengal was scouting for 35 acres for a food park and would apply for SEZ status for a 100-acre facility around Siliguri to serve the tea sector at a of cost around Rs 60- Rs 75 crore.

A logistics hub in northern Bengal would be ready when Nathu La is opened.

The government would aggressively market tea tourism, adventure sports like rafting and mountaineering and lay out golf courses in the region to increase tourist flow there following the opening up of the Nathu La.