State takes 500 acres from closed units, to give them to new takers

Kolkata: Bengal govt has recovered about 500 acres from closed industrial units which would be given to new industries willing to expand in the state, said state industry minister Shashi Panja on Monday. The move comes after CM Mamata Banerjee’s announcement that the state would reclaim unused land meant for industrial purposes.
Speaking at the unveiling of INDPLAS’25 — a plastics exhibition which will be organised by the Indian Plastics Federation at Biswa Bangla Mela Prangan from Feb 28 to March 3 next year — Panja said, “We are identifying unused land along the state and national highways.The plastic manufacturers want to operate close to the city. They are looking at opportunities in Howrah, Hooghly, North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas.” Panja said unregistered plastic units were under the scanner.
Ashok P Jajodia, chairman of the exhibition, said the plastic industry needed a deep sea port to import raw materials and export finished products and called for the expedited development of the Tajpur deep sea port project.
Asked about the status of the project, Panja told reporters that it was being monitored by the CM.
The president of the federation, Lalit Agarwal, said, “The plastic industry of the state is seeing a robust growth at a rate of 12% to 15%, against a national average of 6%-7%. Plastic manufacturers constitute about 90% of the MSME sector in the state. Besides, big players are also expanding in Bengal. We can foresee that the future of the plastic industry is in eastern India.”
Jajodia told the minister that the space of Milan Mela ground is not big enough to hold the plastic exhibition, and a venue double its size is needed to accommodate all visitors. “The space is spread over about 20,000 sq metre, of which only 9,000 sq metre is allotted to the exhibitors,” he said.