Bhattacharjee seeks all party consensus on chemical hub

Kolkata, May 21 (UNI) Walking cautious after the Nandigram flare-up, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has called for a consensus of all political parties for setting up the proposed chemical hub in the state.

In identical letters, he has asked for their opinions on an alternative site for the hub, scheduled to come up at Nandigram.

Mentioning that the centre had given approval for going ahead with the project, the Chief Minister had said in his letter that the proposed hub was very necessary for industrial development and resurgnece in economic activities in the state.

The Left Front Government would go ahead with the project only after a consensus was reached on the basis of the views of all political parties, he said.

The proposed hub would be set up jointly by the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation(WBIDC) and New Kolkata International Development Private Limited with Indian Oil Corporation(IOC) as the anchor investor, while the Centre would extend financial assistance for development of infrastructure.

''All political parties and the majority of the state's people are in agreement on industrialisation. On the basis of that the Government seeks opinions from all parties as to where this chemical hub should be set up. The Government will move ahead with the project on the basis of a consensus after getting the views of all,'' he said.

UNI