Bengal govt allows pvt entities to set up industrial parks on 5 acres of land

The West Bengal Cabinet on Monday gave its nod to allow private players to set up industrial parks on five acres of land, reducing the minimum requirement of 20 acres to develop such facilities, Chief secretary HK Dwivedi said.

The relaxation would encourage small and medium enterprises as the state government has also decided to pay incentives to private players for setting up such parks, the senior official said.

"As per a decision taken in 2014, a minimum of 20 acres of land was required to set up a private industrial park in Calcutta, Howrah or North and South 24 Parganas districts. Today the Cabinet decided to give relaxation and allow private parties to set up industrial parks even if they have 5 acres of land," Dwivedi said.

The top bureaucrat further said that if an industrial park is built on five acres in these three districts, the organisations concerned will come under the incentive allowance scheme.

He said that the incentives will be released as per the stages of completion of the project.

"Earlier, they were given incentive allowances after the completion of construction work of industrial parks. From now on, the incentive allowance will be given to the organisation concerned at the rate of 20, 30, and 50 per cent in three stages," Dwivedi said.

Industries like cold storage, poultry, fish farming, warehousing, etc. will also be included in the stimulus project this time, the chief secretary said.

He said the target is to build 100 industrial parks in the state.

" A one-stop-shop system has also been introduced to facilitate the process of obtaining clearance from various departments, including fire and environment," he added.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet also gave its nod to a new project to enhance the skills of entrepreneurs associated with tourism.

"The cabinet has given its approval for a scheme for recognition of tourism service providers of West Bengal under which the tour operators will be identified and categorised. Their skill will be developed through ‘Utkarsh Bangla’ and they will be given certificates," he said.

The ‘Utkarsh Bangla’ (better Bengal) project aims at creating a pool of skilled candidates who are industry-ready.

The IAS officer said that the Cabinet also gave its approval to recruit around 6,000 primary teachers in Malda and North 24 Parganas districts.

"Posts for at least 3,169 primary teachers will be filled in Malda and North 24 Parganas districts while vacancies of 3,925 posts of primary teachers are being created in those two districts.

In 2009, a panel for recruitment of primary teachers was formed in the state and teachers will be appointed in these posts from the panel, he said.

The state Cabinet also decided to adopt a new policy with some concessions to keep the ailing brick industry afloat.

Dwivedi referred to the national policy under which brick kiln work is now considered as mining activity and the owners of these units have been facing difficulty to get environmental clearance.

"From now on, it has been decided that if the soil is dug up to 1.5 metres for making bricks, it will no longer be considered as excavation work or mining work. As a result, they will not require an environmental clearance," the chief secretary said.

Brick kilns as an industry will now be able to get the benefits of various government projects, he said.

Currently, there are 5,635 registered brickfields in West Bengal.

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