Industry initiative transforms Kolkata's manufacturing hub

The public-private partnership model adopted to develop infrastructure in the old manufacturing hub of Taratala Road in south-east Kolkata has led to better roads, improved water and power supply and drastic improvement in water drainage in the area, denizens of the industrial zone say.

The change happened because the industrial units located there took an initiative under the banner of Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) in 2005 to focus on the area as one which had growth potential and yet required the intervention of a catalysing agent.

Christened the Taratala Development Initiative, it proposed recreation of basic infrastructure so that the area could reinvent itself. The total cost of the project was Rs 100 crore.

Today, the road has virtually no potholes and is a proper two-laned one with a divided carriageway for most of the distance. Similarly, the area is free from waterlogging. When torrential showers hit Kolkata in mid-July, the area was relatively unaffected, in contrast to massive waterlogging in the neighbouring residential zone of Behala.

Power supply has improved so much so that sources in the IFB Ltd factory located in the area said generators were being rarely used now. The credit for the improved supply should also go to CESC Ltd which has upgraded the transformers and lines in the area, sources said.

Taratala Road has now become the focus of some big ticket infrastructure and industrial projects. A new township is coming up in Batanagar.

The project is being implemented through a special purpose vehicle set up by Calcutta Metropolitan Group as a joint venture between Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority, United Credit Balani Group and Bata India. The township will have, among other things, a 300-500 bed hospital, a school, industrial park, hotel and a retail zone.

Last month, a plan for a 14-km monorail project was submitted to the government by the city-based Andromeda Technologies to link Taratala to Budge Budge.

RITES has been asked to conduct a detailed survey. The build-own-transfer (BOT) project will cost around Rs 700 crore. The company estimates that around 60,000 passengers will use the facility everyday.

Way back in 2005 though, to achieve these ends, the Taratala Initiative-BCCI team conducted a survey, met state government officials and negotiated with the Kolkata Port Trust, as the latter was the owner of all the land in the area and units held their plots as leaseholders.

The critical step forward was fixing of responsibility for the utilities. BCCI got the road transferred to the state public works department and initiated work on road repairs. Not stopping at that, BCCI continued its drive with a special project to transform the area into a "green belt" with parks, resorts, entertainment spots and so on.

Industry groups are today working towards to initiate discussions with the Centre to bring Taratala under the cluster scheme so as to convert this area into a manufacturing hub, said sources in the West Bengal government's industry department.

Set up in the 1940s to accommodate industry giants like GEC, BOC, Britannia and Tractors India (now TIL), as well as training institutes for the merchant navy and the hospitality industries, the 33 km stretch from Diamond Harbour Road to Budge Budge-Batanagar was so potholed till 2004-05 that buses refused to ply and trucks with broken axles choked the road.