Bengal's first two wheeler factory comes up near Singur

Kolkata, Feb 15 (UNI) The first two wheeler factory in West Bengal and perhaps in the whole of Eastern region was formally inaugurated by Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee at Kamdebpur near Singur in Hooghly district today, setting off a new chapter in the industrial rejuvination programnme of the state.

The new 25 acre plant of'Global Automobiles', a joint venture between the Xenitis Group and the Guangzhou Motors Company of China will initially produce about 30,000 motorbikes and scooters of 100cc, 125cc and 150cc every month, before reaching the final capacity of 3,60,000 two wheelers per annum in stages.The first product would roll out from the plant for sale on March one.

The total amount of investment in the dream project of both the state government and the Xenitis group is to the tune of Rs 300 crores which is being provided by a consortium of six leading public sector banks including the State Bank of India (Bikaner and Jaipur), Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Andhra Bank and Punjab National Bank.

At least 1,000 people,mostly locals have found employment in the plant in the first phase and later about 5,000 more would be associated with it indirectly, Global Automobiles Chairman Santanu Ghosh informed during the inauguration.

Inaugurating the plant, the Chief Minister showered huge accolades on the Global Automobiles chairman for 'his entrepreneurship,dynamism and commitment to realise the dream' and said the new plant would encourage several other entrepreneurs to set up more such manufacturing facilities in the state.

Referring to his government's sincere efforts to woo more industries in the state, Mr Bhattacherjee said in response to his appeal a number of leading industrialists like the Tatas,the Jindals and the owner of Bhuban Steel had already decided to make major investment by setting up several new plants.

Without naming any opposition party, the Chief Minister lambasted them for opposing the industrialisation programme of the government 'without realising the facts and the gravity of the situation'.

Ridiculing their stance, the Chief Minister informed that while the state possessed more than 1.35 crore acre of farmland, it planned to acquire only about 100,000 acre of them for industrial purposes which was even less than one per cent.

Moreover, he said, thousands of engineers and other studens who graduated from universities every year wanted employment in place of agricultural jobs and it was the responsibility of the state government to provide them the right opportunities. He also termed the opposition agitation to protest against this as suicidal.

Earlier, speaking on the occasion state Commerce and Industries Minister Nirupam Sen also underlined the importance of rapid industrialisation in the era of globalisation and urged the opposition parties to desist from 'opposing for the sake of opposition only'.

Managing Director of Guangzhou Motors Liao Ziang in his speech assured all technical assistance to its partner Global Automobiles for continuous improvement of their products despite stiff competition. He said the collaboration might be extended to other areas also in near future and welcomed the collaboration with CEAT India for sypply of tyres.

UNI