June 26, 2014
Bengal`s first ever electronic cluster to come up in Naihati
The West Bengal government is optimisticabout receiving a preliminary approval soon for the first electronic cluster, aprecursor to set the ball rolling for manufacturing units for the hi-techindustry in the state.
“We hope to get preliminary approval forthe Naihati electronic cluster in the North 24 Parganas district. Once thatcomes, we will move to the next level of implementation which will includeanchor investors to get the final approval,” West Bengal Electronics IndustryDevelopment Corporation DGM Dev Baul said today on the sidelines of a seminaron IT organised by the CII.
In West Bengal, two electronic clustershave been proposed by the state government. The Naihati cluster would come upon 70 acres, while another proposed cluster at Falta would come up on 56 acres.State IT additional secretary Satish Chandra Tewary said the state governmenthad approached the Center to also consider Falta for the modified incentivepackage scheme. In the modified specialized incentive package scheme from theCenter, six locations of Bengal – Howrah, Kharagpur, Haldia, Siliguri, Durgapurand Kolkata – were chosen.
Though electronic clusters engage in nine sectorsand 30 products in the electronic and solar power, in West Bengal the clusterscould focus on Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) as they arelow capital incentive ones and job opportunity was more. Sources indicated thatif things move smoothly, the Naihati cluster could be ready with infrastructureat an estimated cost of around Rs 70 crore.
Earlier in 2011, the state government hadappointed a high-power committee on IT under the chairmanship of Sam Pitroda tochart out new initiatives for growth of information technology and electronicindustry in West Bengal.
