West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Thursday invited tanners, facing problems in running businesses in Uttar Pradesh to invest at the Calcutta Leather Complex (CLC) promising all form of assistance.
"After demonetisation people from Kanpur contacted us and we have given them land on special concession. People investing here will get the similar kind of facilities which will be provided to those from Kolkata," Banerjee said while inaugurating a project and laying foundation stones of several others at the CLC in Bantala.
The chief minister allotted 70 acres of land for 187 new tanneries from the city, Kanpur and Chennai, taking the total number of tanneries that are operational or will become so in the near future at the CLC, to close to more than 790.
Banerjee said that her government would also help tanners from the city willing to invest in the CLC to get lands.
"It's not my land. The land was given by the earlier government to someone else. We will provide special incentives to tanners to get land. There must not be any differences," she said.
Banerjee said her government has taken a number of steps to protect the environment from the possible pollution at of the leather hub and thus decided to set up eight effluent treatment plants.
"We have taken some actions here. When the leather industry in Kanpur is shutting down (because of state PCB orders). We are building eight effluent treatment plants. And out of the eight, four are being constructed. Two will be completed by November and other two will be ready within a short time," she said.
Claiming the CLC as Asia's largest integrated leather complex, Banerjee said the projects will provide five lakh employment opportunities (both direct and indirect combined) once operational.
"When in India employment is on the decline throughout the country, we have provided 40 per cent of employment. I think this leather complex will generate world's highest number of employment. And there will be around five lakh employment. We had hoped of giving employment to around two lakhs people but now that will go up to five lakhs," she said renaming the CLC place as "Karmadigangta".
Banerjee claimed that there will an investment of over Rs 80,000 crore in the CLC.
The Chief Minister opined of shifting of IT industries located at CLC to some other place.
"Slowly and slowly we will shift the IT industry from here to some other place. This place will open up a new horizon here in the world of leather industry. It'll be a unique hub," she said.
Banerjee also handed over no objection certificates (NOC) to a number of tannery and leather goods units.
At the moment, at least 385 tannery units and 40 leather goods units are operational at Bantala.
Banerjee also inaugurated three Common Facility Centre (CFC) at Leather Goods Park, tanning training services centre.
Keeping in mind about the transportation of workers within the CLC, she also handed over six buses.
The chief minister also laid foundation stones of a footwear park, CFC for leather goods manufacturers, micro tanners' hub, eco-friendly CFC for leather scrap burners, seventh and eighth common effluent treatment plants, secured landfill sites for solid waste management, sewage treatment plant.
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