"We have applied for the necessary clearances for setting up Foundry Park," said Gaurang Shah, who has been associated with the Foundry Park Project and also a member of Ahmedabad Foundry Cluster.
At present, there is a foundry cluster in Rajkot. The Ahmedabad park is likely to come up within one year of receiving the nod from the government. At present, sites near Kathawada and Santej have been shortlisted. The state is expected to give a go-ahead for one of these two sites.
"This project is being considered under the cluster development project of the Centre. In this project the central government would bare 80 % of the expenses, while the state government and local industrialist would contribute 10% each. The park would cost nearly Rs 25 crore," he said.
"The scheme to set up a cluster was introduced in 2002. However, the foundry units were no prepared to go for this scheme. After that, as a part of common platform the foundry cluster was started with 15 members," he says. As a part of various awareness programmes, the 15-member team participated in Foundry Fair that was organised in Germany in 2003 and represented them under a common banner.
"They bagged a big order and executed it jointly. A training centre and a testing laboratory were set up in Odhav. This training center plans to start some new courses with six month's duration," he added.
There are some 400 foundries in and around Ahmedabad. Around 70 foundries are expected to shift to the upcoming park.