KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said on Tuesday that reopening of the closed industrial units in the state was impossible without assistance and support from the Centre.
At the same time, the chief minister also claimed that the state government had been offering several incentives to those industrialists who had taken over closed unit in West Bengal in order to reopen those.
Inaugurating the reopening ceremony of the closed Dunlop factory at Sahagunj in Hooghly district on Tuesday Mr Bhattacharjee said that he had requested former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and the then Union minister Goerge Fernandes to take over Dunlop which had been closed since 1998.
“But none of the former Union ministers responded to my appeal and I am really grateful to Santosh Mohan Dev, Union minister for heavy industries who had responded positively in our move to reopen Dunlop,” Mr Bhattacharjee said.
Mr Bhattacharjee also claimed that he had asked the state power department to go slow in realising the pending electricity bills amounting to Rs 15 crore from the Dunlop.”Our government has also given environment certificate and other necessary support to the Dunlop authorities for reopening their Sahagunj unit,” the chief minister claimed. He also asked the chairman of the local civic body to give some time to Dunlop authorities in repaying the pending taxes.
“Mr Ruia has already taken over the Jessop and made it a profit-making unit. Mr Ruia is also planning to take over and reopen the closed Mining Allied Machinery Corporation (MAMC) at Durgapur in Burdwan district,” the chief minister said. He gave an assurance that the state government will support Mr Ruia in his drive to reopen the MAMC.
Mr Bhattacharjee also said that he had asked several state government departments to provide logistic support to Mr Ruia who had planned to set up a ship yard at Haldia. The chief minister also urged the Union heavy industries minister who had also attended the reopening ceremony, to initiate measures to reopen the closed Hindustan Fertiliser Corporation of India (HFCI) at Durgapur.
The chief minister announced that production at Dunlop will begin with about 200 employees and “Mr Ruia has assured me that he will recruit 1,179 persons in phases at the Sahagunj unit.”
Meanwhile, both Citu and Intuc had boycotted the reopening ceremony on the ground that none of the workers were allowed to enter the main venue where the chief minister and other dignitaries were present and addressed the function.
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