The industrial park of Raghunathpur in Purulia district of West Bengal has been identified for an integrated manufacturing and industrial cluster spread over 2,600 acres under the Amritsar Delhi Kolkata Industrial Corridor (ADKIC).
State commerce and industry minister Amit Mitra in his reply during discussion on budgetary demands in the Assembly, said an integrated manufacturing and industrial hub would be set up at Raghunathpur in Purulia.
Later, explaining the project, he told reporters that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had persuaded the Centre and out of three locations suggested by West Bengal, Raghunathpur in Purulia was selected.
The Centre wants to develop ADKIC spread across 20 cities in seven states would include Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal to promote manufacturing.
The development of ADKIC would be taken up in a band of 150-200 km on either side of the proposed Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor between Amritsar and Dankuni, Mitra said.
The minister in his reply to the opposition criticising the extreme poor state of affairs when it comes to actual investment, said some Rs 1.25 lakh crore worth of investments have been initiated from offers received during the last two global investment summits held in the state.
Giving consolidated figures since May 2011, Mitra said the number of projects either operational or implemented were 210 and the total investment was Rs 8,275 crore creating jobs for 28,161 people.
Apart from this, 286 units were being implemented with an estimated cost of Rs 80,484 crore and with job potential of 2.07 lakh people, he said.
Intention has been shown by investors for 234 units attracting projects worth of Rs 72,516 crore with employment opportunity for 86,642 people, the minister said, adding out of around Rs 2.5 lakh crore during the 2016 summit, investments worth Rs 24,924 crore were in operation.
Haldia Petrochemicals, which was facing below 40 per cent capacity utilisation during the Left Front regime, has now peaked at 97 per cent with a possibility of making a profit of Rs 100 crore per month, he said.
Mitra also laid down the details of what the state has done so far in building blocks for industrial activity.
Participating in the discussion Trinamool Congress member Mahua Moitra said opposition allegations are baseless as during the Left Front regime, the work and investment climate of the state were ruined and so it was not easy to revive it.
It may take years, but the government's intension is towards industry, she added.
