The proposed hosiery park of the West Bengal Hosiery Association at Jagdishpur in the Howrah district is getting delayed due to land acquisition problems. | |
| The West Bengal Hosiery Park Infrastructure Ltd, the special purpose vehicle floated for the purpose of setting up the park, had approached the West Bengal Land and land Reforms department for getting the land, said B D Kothari, secretary of the West Bengal Hosiery Association after the annual general meeting of the association in Kolkata on Sunday. |
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| With the land yet to be acquired, the association was unable to approach the Central government for an SITP (Scheme for Integrated Textiles Parsk) approval, a central government scheme that allows up to 40 per cent subsidy on project costs of such parks, said K B Agarwala, president of the association. |
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| The project cost of the Jagdishpur park is around Rs 100 crore, with excepted investments up to Rs 500 crore. |
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| Till now, nearly 35 acres of land has been purchased by the association, against a target of 125 acre. |
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| The association hoped to submit its proposal for SITP by June this year, with government's recommendation and one-third of land in possession, said Kothari. |
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| "The Jagdishpur mouza consists of extremely fragmented land holdings. This along with title disputes is hampering the purchase process," Agarwala said. |
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| "As applications for SITP approval from other states are pouring, any delay on our part will mean loss of 20,000 jobs to be created by the park," he added. |
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| Speaking on the occasion, P K Agarwal, principal secretary, Land and Land Reforms department, said, his department would consider the facilitating the purchase of land for the project, though it was yet to receive any formal proposal from the concerned state department. |
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| Agarwal also said, the association should abstain from using the term "land acquisition", as the land should be availed through proper purchase and price. |
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| Manabendra Mukherjee, minster, state micro and small enterprise, textiles and tourism, said at the meeting that the West Bengal government would not shy away from setting up a separate department of textiles, if the need was felt. |
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| Also, the state would help bridge the infrastructure gap for upgrading the textiles sector in the state, the minster said. |
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| "It is not the case that we do not have proper infrastructure, if we compare ourselves with places like Tirupur. Kolkata being, th port city has got all the advantages for easy shipment, Mukherjee said, adding, "If you can provide better infrastructure to our labourers as well, and paint a rosy picture of the sector, by sharing your wealth with the workers, labour will not be a problem." |
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| The hosiery association also urged the West Bengal government to abolish the textiles licence system in the state, as it had lost its relevance, and most of the states have de-regulated the sector. |
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