New MSME Industrial City coming up in Bengal

New MSME Industrial City coming up in Bengal

Posted on October 29, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday announced that a 200-acre MSME Industrial City was being set up in Howrah district to boost the state’s micro, small and medium enterprises sector.

“You will be happy to know that more than 50,000 micro, small and medium enterprises have been set up in the state in the last four years with employment of about 4.5 lakh people.

To give further boost to the sector, a joint venture between Department of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Textiles and Howrah Municipal Corporation in a 200 acre MSME industrial city, named as “Belur Shilpa Tirtha” is being developed in Belur, Howrah,” she posted on her Facebook page.

The venue will have state-of-the-art industrial park for all kinds of manufacturing activities and a world class logistics hub; with requisite social infrastructure for housing, education, healthcare and recreation/entertainment, she added.

The image is representative

Biswa Bangla stalls to showcase lost and forgotten art of Bengal dollmaking

Posted on October 28, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Biswa Bangla stalls will now showcase lost and forgotten art of dollmaking in the State.

A total of 27 genres of Bangla dolls, including rare ones, such as Bonga elephants of Sandra (Bankura), animal dolls from Belia (West Midnapore) and Shiva head of Nabadwip (Nadia), have been brought together at the state-run handicraft retail chain.

Some of the dolls are so rare that only one or two families in the entire state make them now. With the market for these dolls going down, most artisan families have stopped making dolls.

The Shiva Head of Nabadwip is now made only at the time of Basanti Puja, to mark the mythological wedding of Shiva and Parvati. The local artists create colourful masks of Shiva. Unlike terracotta figures, which are baked in ovens, these dolls are dried in the sun. The masks, once painted, are then taken door to door to collect money for the ritual. These artisans make dolls only during Chaitra.

The Biswa Bangla authorities are trying to present the different dolls to the connoisseurs in India and abroad. We have already seen a good demand at our London store. We are also coming up with miniature dolls, along with a short history for them. This makes for an excellent collectors’ item.

It took six months to find some of the rare dolls. The Bonga elephants are not made anymore. They were made by tribals in Bankura, and were dedicated to the Santhali deity, Singh Bonga, at a place called Zaher. In some cases, artistes were convinced to revive their art. The figurines need to have utility too. We assured them a good price and a market too. The unique feature of the elephant is its round shape, nowhere found in other dolls. Animal dolls of Belia have unique features and incorporate semi-circular shapes of the ears. The elephants of Belia are different from other genres with their long round trunks and large ears.

Bengal artefacts huge draw at London Design Festival

Posted on September 29, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Exquisite artefacts from West Bengal with long histories such as ‘jamdani’, ‘muslin’, ‘kantha’ and ‘balaposh’ were a major draw in the London Design Festival.

The artefacts included the ‘Indo-Portuguese shawl’, which draws on a long history of colonialism in Bengal and a confluence of cultures. The seven artefacts displayed under the ‘Biswa Bangla’ initiative showcased the best of the state’s handloom and handicrafts sector.

“We got an excellent response. We tested the waters here, and received many inquiries for regular supplies. Biswa Bangla is now in the process of opening a store in Piccadilly to scale up our efforts,”, Rajiva Sinha, principal secretary of the state’s department of textiles said.

Described as an initiative that eliminates ‘middlemen’ and distributes all profits among traditional craftspersons associated with it, Biswa Bangla achieved a revenue of Rs 15 crore in its first year and is on target to achieve a revenue of Rs 25 crore with a larger pool of craftspersons.

Besides stores in West Bengal and New Delhi, it will be the first time that any state government will have such stores outside India, officials attending the London Design Festival said. Besides London, there are plans to open a store in China.

7,000 traditional craftspersons are associated with Biswa Bangla, producing 5,400 products, many of whom have long histories and were part of international trade during the colonial era. Some products are due to be displayed at the Victoria & Albert Museum next year.

The products on display included ‘patachitra’, or scrolls on which mythological or epic stories are painted in a sequence, and masks from south Dinajpur and Bankura, made from bamboo, wood and clay.

Policies of Mamata Banerjee Govt help revive Bengal handloom sector

Posted on September 25, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

West Bengal Government has focused upon the rejuvenation and development of its world-famed Tant products, which are still now woven in handlooms.

Recently, West Bengal MoS for MSME Swapan Debnath inaugurated the Banglar Tanter Haat at Milan Mela Prangan in Kolkata. The Haat will continue till October 12.

Tantuja, the largest of the State Government organizations marketing Bengal’s handloom products, has taken initiative to have tie-ups with online shops like Snapdeal and Amazon. It is also with talks with the Google authorities for upgrading its website.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier provided some design for Tant sarees and had stressed on usage of natural and organic colours for the products.

The West Bengal Government is giving all out support to the Self Help Groups, 50% of which comprise women by offering incentives, weaver’s credit cards and other facilities given to the unorganized sector.

Recently, the Government has started the “Tant Saathi” scheme. In the first phase, around one lakh weavers will be distributed with looms so that they would not have to depend on loans.

Bengal handloom now on doorsteps

Posted on September 17, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Now at a click of a mouse or a gentle tap on your smart phone you can choose a Jamdani, Tangail, handloom or silk printed saree from Tantuja.

Customers can go online shopping at Flipkart without jostling through the Puja crowd. With an increase in online shopping, the West Bengal State Handloom Weavers Co-operative Society Limited also decided to go online with its handloom sarees.

Its premiun brand Tantuja’s Jamdani, printed silk, handloom sarees, self designed sarees of various ranges are available on online stores like Flipkart.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has always encouraged the growth of MSME. To showcase West Bengal’s handloom in other states and in London she has opened Biswa Bangla brand stores.

She has also instructed MSME minister Swapan Debnath to revive Muslin, an almost decaying fine handloom.

“The customers can avoid Puja rush and make their choice of sarees online. They will receive the delivery at their doorstep,” the minister said.

He said, “We are in the business for the past three and a half months and have made a business of Rs.10.5 lakh. Through stores like Flipkart it has become easier for NRIs and Bengali families living in other states to get Bengal handlooms at their doorstep”.

Common Facility Centre to help small industries coming up at Maheshtala

Posted on August 18, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

West Bengal Government is taking up a step to provide a Common Facility Centre to save small industries. The Facility Centre will come up at Maheshtala. The MSME Dept of the West Bengal Government will set up this facility Centre and is expected to get help from the Pollution Control Board.

A three-acre land has already been earmarked for the Common Facility Centre. Proper measures are to be taken for controlling pollution in the form of an effluent treatment plant.

At present, around 79 such small industries, which were barred by the Green Tribunal for pollution, are to be relocated at Maheshtala’s Common Facility Centre. These industries dealt with dyeing, bleaching and dress making. In future days, more than three hundred such industries will be relocated.

With the construction of the effluent treatment plant, pollution will be controlled in future days.

Biswa Bangla to be part of the London Design Festival this year

Posted on July 31, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

It will be a Bengal summer at one of Britain’s most revered museums next year – the Victoria and Albert Museum. Bengal’s stunning textiles and designs will form part of V&A’s spring summer festival in April 2016. Biswa Bangla will be part of the London Design Festival this year from September 19 to 27.

The Victoria and Albert Museum is going big on Indian fabrics. ‘The Fabric of India’, being held at V&A from October 3 2015, to January 10, 2016, will be the first exhibition to fully explore the incomparably rich world of handmade textiles from India.

Biswa Bangla is a single umbrella organization showcasing and promoting all handloom and handicraft products of West Bengal. It is an initiative to address the issues that impact our heritage and the livelihoods of thousands of traditional craftsmen and weavers by improving the visibility and growth of the handloom and handicrafts sector and directly benefiting the weavers and artisans.

The Department of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Textiles of the Government of West Bengal has begun working to improve the quality of life of handloom weavers and craftspersons and advance cross-cultural understanding through the identification, documentation, preservation, and presentation of the traditional arts of the state of West Bengal.

Bengal products on China shelves

Posted on June 12, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Bengal products will now be found in Chinese markets -courtesy an MoU between Biswa Bangla Corporation and Haohong Logistics Corporation, a unit of the billion Yuan Haohong Group.

Two way trade

Biswa Bangla Corporation, developed by the Mamata Banerjee government, will have a permanent stall at Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, to showcase Bengal products.

The MoU was signed in the presence of Yunnan governor Chen Hao, union minister of state for external affairs and Bengal finance and industries minister Amit Mitra. The Haohong Group has allotted a 100 sq m area in its industrial park.

Dr Mitra said: “Bengal handicrafts will now be available in China. This is a major step.”

Boost to tourism

The West Bengal tourism department also expects better inflow of Chinese tourists to Bengal following an MoU with the Yunnan provincial tourism corporation. The agreement was signed after chairman of West Bengal chapter, Indian Tour Operators Association, Debajit Dutta made a presentation on Bengal tourism.

Stronger ties between sister cities

Another MOU was signed between MSME Technology Centre and Kunming SME financial transaction service, which will act as the backbone for SME infrastructure in Bengal, said state MSME secretary Rajiva Sinha.

Earlier Kunming governor expressed interest in setting up an industrial park in Bengal which he feels should strengthen relationship with Yunnan.

Dr Mitra later said that the Yunnan governor has agreed to send an investors’ delegation to the next Bengal business summit. Mitra urged Yunnan investors to invest in the upcoming Bengal townships, one of the pet projects of chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

“We are building 22 smart cities on private-public partnership. I would request Chinese companies to invest here. Yunnan is very strong in food processing and cold storage infrastructure. We would require investment in these sectors as well,” he added.

Amit Mitra leads Team Bengal at China

Posted on June 11, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

State finance and industries minister Amit Mitra is in China today to attract investment for Bengal as well as strengthen the much talked about Kolkata-Kunming connectivity.

Dr Mitra is accompanied by an Indian Chamber of Commerce delegation. Dr Mitra said that India will be the partner country of the 3rd China South Asia Expo in Kunming, and Bengal will be the focus state.

Bengal had a 450 sq m stall at the venue with 28 stalls displaying the potential of Bengal. On Friday, Dr Mitra will address the joint opening ceremony of the expo. “There will be a special cultural programme from Bengal,” he added.

There will be business-to-business meetings with Chinese counterparts as well.

Projects worth Rs 91000 Cr started in Bengal in 2015: Amit Mitra

Posted on June 10, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Rejecting the opposition’s allegations of deteriorating and slow industrial growth in the state, West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra Monday said projects worth Rs 91,230 crore have been started in the four months of 2015.

Of the total projects initiated, Rs 32,000 crore is in power sector and Rs 47,000 crore in manufacturing and transport, Mitra informed the Assembly during his reply for approval of grants for Commerce and Industry department.

The projects had started within four months of the Global Bengal Summit where MoUs worth Rs 2.34 lakh crore were signed, he added.

Informing the House on the ongoing previously announced projects, he said 435 industrial projects had been either implemented or under implementation.

He added that 224 investment proposals are in the pipeline, entailing an investment of Rs 1.14 lakh crore.

Opposition members of the House had leveled allegations of slow industrial progress under the current government, contradicting industrial output data besides charging the government of being a mute spectator to closing of jute mills and tea gardens, among others.