West Bengal government to sign MoA with Indonesian group

Kolkata, July 28: The ruling Left Front in West Bengal today gave a green signal to the state government for signing an agreement with the Indonesian Salim Group on July 31 for industrial project.

The meeting, which discussed a note of the Cabinet Sub-Committee for industry, was unanimous that the proposed project of the Indonesian group was necessary for the state looking for an industrial resurgence and employment generation.

Chief Minister Budduadesb Bhattacharjee apprised the Front partners of the details of the project and the government policy for acquisition of the required land.

Industry Minister Nirupam Sen was also present in the meeting.

However, the partners stressed that the multicrop agricultural land should be avoided for setting up the industry.

Left Front-chairman and CPI(M) state secretary Biman Bose said the Front had endorsed the Salim project on the basis of the note given by the Sub-Committee.

He said no partner had any reservation about the project, adding investors would have to set up projects on the basis of government terms and conditions.

''Salim will have to go by the government programme for industrialisation, development and employment generation, '' he stated.

. '' All of us are of the view that the agreement between the state goverment and the Salim group can be signed as scheduled on July 31, '' veteran Forward Bloc leader Ashok Ghosh said after the meeting. RSP state committee secretary Debabrata Banerjee said the meeting decided the the Detailed Project Report (DPR) would be distributed among the partners for transparency and better understanding.

The meeting ended all confusion among the smaller constituents of the Front about the projects. Earlier, they had expressed reservation because of the huge requirement of the farm land.

The Sub-Committee had discussed the Salim's DPR at a meeting yesterday and referred the issue to the Left Frnt for final decision.

The issue had created a flutter also in the CPI(M), the Front major, but it was resolved within the party much before with the Chief Minister and the Industry Minister exhorting the Congress that the government was not in favour of industry at the cost of agriculture, an area of landmark success of the government.

While leader, including Land and Land Reforms Minister Abdur Rezzak Molla, were vehemently against indiscriminate acquisition of farmland, Mr Bhattacharjee had the last laugh by successfully pursuading them that his government would maintain a balance between agriculture and industry.

Representatives of the Indonesia-based Salim group would arrive here shortly to sign the Memorandum of Agreement with the West Bengal government for its townships and road projectsin the state.

'' We are trying to ensure that the MoA is signed with the Salim Group on the date fixed earlier, '' Industry Secretary Sabyasachi Sen said. However, the date had not been finalised, Mr Sen said.

Industry Minister Nirupam Sen had earlier said the representatives of Salim, which had submiited the Detailed Project Reports, would arrive here on July 31.

The Industry Secretary said if the schedule was finalised, the MoA would be signed by the end of this month.

The signatories for the Salim group have not yet been finalised, he added.

The projects proposed by the group included the Barasat-Raichak Road, a township in South 24-Parganas and Dankuni in West Howrah, besides a SEZ at Haldia.

Sen said once the MoA was signed, the Salim group would take the approval of the state government on specific projects for land and other matters. They would finalise their detailed project on the basis of land and infrastructure facilities approved.

UNI