Steeling ahead

 Mukherjea, however, had an eye on bigger things. Four years ago, he ventured into manufacturing when he set up a ferro chrome unit in Durgapur, 200 kms from Kolkata.

 Now, he, along with his two brothers, is ready to set up a mini steel plant with an investment of Rs 200 crore over five years.

 Anurag Agrawal, (not his real name), had a small foundry unit in Howrah, the twin city of Kolkata across the Hoogly river.

 The business environment in the foundry cluster, saddled with outdated technology and stiff pollution control norms, was unfavourable. Agrawal was looking for new avenues.

 He found one last year, when he set up a mini steel plant in Purulia at an investment of Rs 20 crore. After a full year of operation, he has recovered half of his investment thanks to the boom in the steel sector, which delivered margins of Rs 3,000 per tonne. Purulia is across the Damodar river from Durgapur.

 Mukherjee and Agrawal are just two players in the booming iron and steel industry in West Bengal. The heart of the boom lies in the Durgapur-Asansol belt, with extensive coal and steel mines and several public sector steel units around, and an industrial culture suited to