West Bengal industrial growth rate higher than national average

KOLKATA, 1 December, 2008: The industrial growth rate of West Bengal is 1.1 per cent higher than the national average of 10.8 per cent (2006-07), and the State continues to move ahead on the path to development and economic progress, the Singur episode notwithstanding. According to leading industrialists, the sectors like steel and mining, chemicals and petro-chemicals, power, agro industries and food processing, Information Technology (IT), real estate and retail have been generating a lot of interest in West Bengal.

The State is a gateway not only to north-east India besides other States like Orissa, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, but also to countries like Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. The growth and development is obvious in and around the capital city of Kolkata. Major real estate players like DLF, Unitech, Singapore-based Keppeland, Purvankara, Emaar Group, are all competing for a pie of the new satellite township coming up at Rajarhat, near the airport. Besides housing estates, several budget and star hotels and conference centres, cultural centres, shopping malls, multiplexes are being built across the city.

Smaller towns like Durgapur, Haldia, Asansol, and Siliguri across the State are developing. The steel sector, recently received a boost with the foundation stone laying of the proposed Rs. 35,000 crore-Jindal Steel Plant in Salboni, in West Midnapore District, approximately 240 kilometres from Kolkata. The other sectors that have witnessed a lot of activity are metals, mining and plastic. With a sustained agricultural growth of over 8 per cent, the State is also finding investors in the agro-industries and in food processing.

"There is great focus in potato, other vegetables and fruit cultivation and processing. The entry of wholesale giants like Metro-Cash-And-Carry signals well for this segment," says Dr. Rajeev Singh, Secretary General, Indian Chamber of Commerce. According to the city-based industrialist Sanjay Budhia, Chairman of the Patton Group, Kolkata finds investors because of facilities like low-cost housing compared to other metros, good sanitation and basic amenities, best clubs in the country, culture and a literate working class.

Sanjay says investors from Japan and Korean get bowled over when they see the great golf courses the Tolly club and the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC). In the hotel industy, Kolkata has witnessed entry of big players. The Apeejay Group is putting up a 300-room five star hotel spread over a 3.3 acre plot on the Eastern Bypass worth Rs 1.36 billion, as is the Emaar Group. The Bengal Shrishti Infrastructure Development is building a hotel in Rajarhat worth Rs. five billion. The Hilton group has also made enquiries.

According to Samit Ganguly, Director for Sales, Hyatt Regency, Kolkata, has a corporate-driven hotel market, which is growing despite seasonal downslides. West Bengal today is the third largest economy in the country. Its IT sector, which set off much later than other parts of the country, is growing fast with big names like Wipro, TCS and IBM finding a place in the IT hub at Sector V already. The State, according to industry leaders, is on the right track. It has garnered new projects worth two billion dollars in the last four years. The government has offered the right incentives and even during the recent global meltdown and recession, not many see much reason to worry.

However, all emphasize that there is need for an environment for industrial growth. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's government in West Bengal has shown the political will towards taking the State forward industrially. However, the state's merit as an investment destination and for industrial development would ultimately be decided on the basis of its work culture and the public will to see projects through.

West Bengal’s IT sector upbeat in spite of meltdown

Feature IT companies have significant expansion plans

KOLKATA: December 01, 2008--Major IT companies in Kolkata have no immediate plans to withhold or temporarily stall their investment or expansion plans even though the worldwide recession has not left Kolkata’s IT sector unaffected. In fact, Kolkata’s IT industry in Sector 5, Salt Lake City, is all set to enter new areas such as animation and gaming software, engineering services, and security software. The IT industry in Bengal has already established itself in key IT-enabled functions such as knowledge processing, consulting and back office services.

According to the September edition of the state government’s IT Newsletter posted on the net, the staff strength of Wipro’s Salt Lake BPO unit is slowly heading towards the 10,000 mark from its present strength of 4,500 people. In view of the company’s significant expansion plans in the city, Wipro has requested 90 acres of land in the second IT park in Kolkata’s Rajarhat township.

Meanwhile, HTMT Global Solutions has plans to invest Rs 400 crore ($80 million) towards new acquisitions in West Bengal. The company’s IT unit in Durgapur, about 200 kilometres away from Kolkata, already employs 150 people. The Durgapur unit serves Bharti Airtel.

Capgemini has also earmarked Kolkata as a major IT destination. The company has drawn a massive expansion plan and aims to acquire a 200,000 sq ft facility at New Town, Rajarhat, which would employ 1,700 people.

Another leading IT consulting company, Cognizant has plans to invest Rs 201 crore ($40 million) to extend its Kolkata facility. The plan includes an extension of its office space by another 500,000 sq ft to accommodate 5,000 employees.

HCL Infosystems has chosen Kolkata as the location of the company’s consulting center in system integration. The company plans to recruit 1,000 to 1,500 people in the coming year. Besides, many well known outsourcing companies like Genpact are choosing Kolkata as their main centre for handling global clients and India-to-India business.

Meanwhile, indigenous BPO units are coming up in various small cities in West Bengal, outside Kolkata. Although these are mostly small scale Indian-owned facilities, they are certainly enhancing employment opportunities. For instance, a company named Firstsource has launched its operations in Siliguri with plans to employ 500 people. The company’s Siliguri facility serves Vodafone.

The West Bengal IT sector is marked by low salaries and relatively low productivity levels in comparison with the other IT hubs in the country. However, this inadequacy is compensated by factors such as low attrition rates, easy availability of skilled and talented workers and a high standard of English communication skills among employees.

In the face of the current global economic meltdown plaguing international businesses, there is no doubt that some of the companies aiming for large scale investment in Kolkata may adopt a wait and watch policy. However, in the long run, the IT prospects in West Bengal continue to remain strong.

Dunlop declares suspension of work at Sahaganj unit

Kolkata, 29 November, 2008: Tyre maker Dunlop India Ltd on Sunday declared suspension of work at its Sahaganj unit in the Hooghly district, affecting the fate of over 1,100 workers.

"After failure of rounds of prolonged discussions with the labour unions of Dunlop India Ltd, the management of the company is constrained to declare suspension of work at its Sahaganj plant with effect from November 30, 2008," a Dunlop statement said here. Just two years after it was revived, Dunlop decided a temporary suspension of work at the unit on November 17, citing lack of working capital.

During the suspension of production period during which workers were not required to report for duty, the management had proposed to pay each worker a solarium of Rs 2,000 per month. An agreement on this issue between the management and trade unions was supposed to be signed on November 20 but it did not materialise.

On November 24, Dunlop Chairman Pawan Ruia said that the company had approached the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation for a loan of Rs 100 crore. Ruia had taken over Dunlop in 2005 and Sahaganj factory opened in October 2006. The company's Ambattur factory in south India is already closed for long.

Kolkata Police seek new anti-terrorism force, tenant database

Kolkata, Nov 29,2008: Gearing up after the country's most brazen terrorist strike in Mumbai, Kolkata Police Thursday issued a notification directing the house-owners to maintain a complete database of tenants and requested the West Bengal government to raise a special anti-insurgenct commando force.

"We've decided to make it mandatory for all the landlords (house-owners) to fill up a 'tenant profile form' and submit it to the local police station. We've already issued a notification today following the attack in Mumbai," Kolkata Police Commissioner Gautam Mohon Chakraborty told a press conference.

He said the police wanted to maintain a thorough database of all tenants in the city and its surrounding areas. "We'll soon give a deadline to complete this process. Those violating the norms will be penalised under Section 188 of Indian Penal Code (IPC), according to the gravity of the offence," he said.

"In that case, the offenders might face a jail term - from one to six months - and a fine," said Chakraborty, adding Kolkata Police would also send a proposal to the state government for forming a special action commando battalion to fight critical terror attack.

"We're constantly in touch with Mumbai Police and keeping a tab on the situation. We're also sharing information and intelligence with Mumbai Police and other sister agencies," he said but declined to share the operational details.

Security measures have been stepped up in Kolkata and its adjoining districts after serious terrorist attacks rocked India's commercial capital Wednesday night, leaving at least 101 killed and several injured.

The police said additional forces along with sniffer dogs and metal detectors have already been deployed in all district police headquarters and major railway stations across the state. "Kolkata Police have already issued a security advisory notice for all the hotels and commercial building owners in the city to abide by the norms. The guidelines would soon be circulated to schools, markets and shopping mall authorities also.," he said.

"We're also trying to formulate strict measures for telephone booths as people often make crank calls from the public booths and cause unnecessary panic," he said. Chakraborty mentioned that three hoax calls, including in the office of a leading Bengali daily and a central public sector undertaking office, were reported Thursday. The Kolkata Police top brass had an emergency meeting with Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Home Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty Thursday morning.

"Metal detectors have been installed at all vital places in the city, especially at five-star hotels, shopping malls, multiplexes, airport and metro rail stations. There will be at police picketing at all major road junctions and crowded places," Chakraborty said. He said no vehicle or person would be allowed to enter unchecked important places like hotels and airport .

"Every vehicle and every person will be thoroughly checked before entering important places like hotels, malls and airport. There will be heavy police security in and outside these places. Our officers have been instructed to report anything and anyone suspicious," said Chakraborty.
Watertight security has been arranged, especially for five-star hotels.

People entering hotels like the Taj Bengal are not only undergoing a metal detector test but sniffer dogs are also used to check them and their baggage thoroughly. Besides, two-layer police security has been posted at the hotels. The number of security guards has also been increased.

The Kolkata Port Trust will Friday hold a high-level meeting to review its security arrangements."There is a high-level secuirty apparatus in the port as per the Internaitonal shipping and Port Facility Security Code. It is reviewed by the Directorate General of Shipping from time to time. Whenever it sees any deficiency, the DGS points it out and identifies the reason" said a highly placed KoPT official.

Salt Lake Stadium to host only semis and final

New Delhi, Nov 29, 2008: The All India Football Federation (AIFF) today made minor changes in the fixtures of December 4-21 Federation Cup in Kolkata due to non-availability of the Salt Lake Stadium there for most part of the football tournament.

Earlier, the group matches of the tournament were to be held in both the Barasat and Salt Lake stadia in Kolkata while the two semifinals and final were to be played at Salt Lake.But now, Salt Lake Stadium will host only three matches -- two semifinals and final -- while Barasat Stadium will host all the group matches, an AIFF release said.

This was necessitated after the Indian Football Association (state association of West Bengal) informed the AIFF that the Salt Lake Stadium will not be available before the semifinals.Moreover, the two Group A matches -- between Dempo and Chirag United, and Mumbai FC and State Bank of Travancore -- which was earlier scheduled to be played on December 6 will now be held the next day.

State Bank of Travancore, New Delhi Heroes, Oil India (Assam) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited had made it to the 16-team main round from the qualifiers.The 16 teams have been divided into four groups of four teams each to play a round-robin league and the winners of each group will make it to the semifinals to be held on December 18. The final will be played on December 21. (Agencies)

Two from West Bengal killed in Mumbai terror attacks

Kolkata, Nov 28, 2008: Two people, including a 66-year old woman, from West Bengal were among those killed in the Mumbai terror attacks, an official said Friday.

”We heard the information that a youth from Boriya police station area in Murshidabad district was killed in the ongoing terror attack in Mumbai. But we’ve not received any further details of the victim,” Murshidabad district police superintendent Basab Dasgupta told Friday.

He said the district police had not yet received the name of the person. “We’re now trying to get all the details of the victim,” Dasgupta said.

According to police, Meera Chatterjee, 66, of Hooghly district’s Singur was also killed in a firing Wednesday night while waiting at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) to catch a train home.

She went from West Bengal’s Singur to the country’s commercial capital to be with her son who had just lost his job and was in a state of serious depression. A terrorist walked up to Chatterjee and shot her at pointblank range.

Media reports said, her two sons - Ardhendu and Purnendu - had gone to get some food for their mother at the platform and escaped the terrorist’s bullets by minutes. They heard the gunshots but could not realise that it was their mother who was killed in the firing.

When both the brothers ran back they could only find bulletmarks and bloodstains all over the place. Their search for their mother ended at a nearby hospital’s morgue two hours later.

UPA failed to take effective steps against terror: Left Front

Kolkata, Nov 28, 2008: Condemning the terror strike in Mumbai, West Bengal's ruling Left Front Thursday pulled up the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the centre for its failure to take effective steps to combat terrorism.

Describing the intensity of Wednesday's terrorist attack as "unprecedented", Left Front chairman Biman Basu said it had left the entire nation stunned.

"Several insurgent attacks have taken place in the country in the last few years. But incidents of this magnitude never occurred in the past. The ultras devastated the police and held entire Mumbai to ransom. The central government has failed to take effective steps against terrorism... We condemn the insurgent attacks," a statement quoted Basu as saying.

The Left Front chairman claimed terror strikes have been occurring time and again as part of an "imperialist conspiracy to break the country's democratic system. In this situation, we have to mobilise public opinion for protecting our democratic system and against terrorist activities," he said.

Basu appealed to leftist activists and supporters to remain alert and take out rallies throughout the state.

Government needs to be very cautious towards land acquisition: WB CM

KOLKATA, 28 NOV., 2008: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Wednesday said that his government needs to be very cautious towards land acquisition.

Speaking at the National Executive Meet of FICCI, Bhattacharjee said, “Singur and Nandigram have sent a wrong signal to investors both in India and abroad. Very often foreigners who meet me ask me about them and I had to explain (why this has happened).”

Bhattacharjee said that from the very beginning, he has advocated a nationwide land acquisition policy. He said 60 percent of the people in the state were dependent on agriculture, which is not a good sign for the economy. “We have 1.35 crore acres of land and out of that only 1 per cent is needed for implementation of all our projects. The Opposition does not want to understand that,” said Bhattacharjee.

Bhattacharjee also pointed out that the farmers should get remunerative prices and they should be rehabilitated. “There should be rehabilitation of the farmers too. The Central government is preparing a bill for compensation and rehabilitation and it will be passed soon,” the CM said.

The CM stressed on the need of a deep sea port in the state’s South 24 Parganas on Bay of Bengal. He, however, expressed his unhappiness over the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) move to explore the possibility of setting up a deep sea port at Chittagong in Bangladesh.

“I am going to Delhi next Saturday and will discuss this with (External Affairs Minister) Pranab Mukherjee and if necessary I will talk to Prime Minister (Manmohan) Singh”, said the 64 year old minister.

West Bengal CM condemns Mumbai terror strikes

Kolkata, Nov.28: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today condemned the terror attacks in Mumbai. He said it was a challenge for the people of the country to remain calm and resolute and to try to overcome the menace unitedly.

He also expressed a hope for a robust national response to terrorism and added that there was no doubt in his mind that foreign forces are behind this attacks. He offered his condolences to the families of the victims of the attacks. We are very much worried about what is happening in Mumbai. The flush out operation is still going on. Near about hundred people have been killed so far and more than 350 people were injured, including policemen and foreigners,” said the Chief Minister.

“It is a horrible incident. It is a time to forget political rivalries and people should stand up unitedly to fight with the terrorism and its the need of the hour.We must take oath against the terrorism. These attacks had external linkages and I have no doubt. I offer my condolence to the people who have lost their lives. Let us take an oath against the terrorism, he said.

Alert in West Bengal after terrorist attack in Mumbai

KOLKATA, November 27, 2008 :An alert was sounded on Wednesday night across West Bengal, including the eastern metropolis in the wake of terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

Checking at entry points in the metropolis have been intensified and additional forces posted in vulnerable areas as a precautionary measure, city Police Commissioner Gautam Mohan Chakraborty told a news agency.

He said extra police personnel have been deployed in front of railway stations, big hotels, government offices and vital installations."We are keeping watch on the situation in Mumbai and have kept our forces alert here," he said.

Meanwhile, security has also been strengthened at the Sealdah, Howrah and Kolkata stations and Railway police asked to be vigilant in both Eastern and Southeastern Railways.

Ennore Coke plans Rs 1,000-cr project

Chennai, Nov. 27: Ennore Coke Ltd, whose 130,000-tonne coke plant at Haldia began operations just a few months ago, is preparing a plan to put up a 1 million-tonne plant that may require over Rs 1,000-crore of investments.

Ennore Coke, listed on the BSE, is an associate company of Shriram EPC Ltd, part of the Chennai-based Shriram group, which has a 32 per cent stake in the company. It produces coke, used in the conversion of ores into metals, from coking coal that comes from mines. Coke is a key raw material in steel production.

Mr T. Shivaraman, Managing Director, Shriram EPC, told Business Line that to put up the project, it is imperative to either have possession of coking coal mines or have a company that has the mines as a partner. Depending upon how things pan out, the new project may be put up either by Ennore Coke itself or through a joint venture, he said.

Today, Ennore Coke has 410,000 tonnes of capacity under its command, half of which is through an arrangement with a company called Durgapur Projects Ltd. Ennore Coke outsources coke manufacture to Durgapur Projects. In addition, Ennore Coke recently acquired an 80,000 tonne coke plant from Wellman Incandescent, in West Bengal, for a consideration of Rs 30 crore.

The rest of the capacity comes from the newly commissioned plant at Haldia that has a 12 MW thermal power plant that produces power from waste heat from the coke plant.

The current year is the company’s first full year of operations. For the half year ended September 30, Ennore Coke achieved a turnover of Rs 20 crore and made a net profit of Rs 22 lakh.

The current price of coke is about $500 a tonne. Assuming prices remain unchanged and capacity utilisation is full, Ennore Coke could potentially achieve a turnover of Rs 900 crore in 2009-10.

Asked if work on the proposed 1 million-tonne project could begin at least by 2010-11, Mr Shivaraman said, “we are pushing for starting the next year itself.”

Govt ‘unhappy’ with Dunlop stand, no loan cushion for factory

Kolkata, 26 Nov., 2008 : The situation at Dunlop India took a new turn when it emerged that the company may not receive Rs 100 crore loan, which it has asked from the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) to resume production at its Sahagunj factory.

“No state government provides working capital to any factory. Merely because you could not get it from banks, you cannot rush to the government. If we give money to Dunlop, then other companies facing financial crunch will also approach us,” a highly-placed source at the Writers’ Buildings told The newspersons.

Labour Minister Mrinal Banerjee tried to organise a tripartite meeting between the management, trade unions and the state government on Tuesday. But with Dunlop chairman Pawan Ruia taking an unflinching stand on suspending the production, the meeting failed to take off.

“We told Ruia to modify the draft he gave us, where he used the phrase ‘suspension of production’ at Dunlop. He refused to change the words and hence the meeting could not take place,” said Banerjee.

According to labour department officials, the government can intervene only in cases such as lock-out, lay-off, suspension of work and retrenchment of work. But since Ruia stuck to the phrase ‘suspension of production’, the government washed its hands of Dunlop.

Government officials also said Ruia refused to budge from his demand that trade unions sign the agreement accepting Rs 2,000 as subsistence allowance for each worker.

On Tuesday, the Dunlop chief also met Subesh Das, Principal Secretary to the chief minister, and gave him a letter requesting for the loan of Rs 100 crore and sales tax exemption. “We have given the letter to the CM’s secretary. We had to suspend the production because of lack of working capital,” said Ruia.

Representatives of two trade unions owing allegiance to Centre of Indian Trade Unions and Indian National Trade Union Congress met the labour minister and demanded that the government bring Dunlop to the negotiating table.

“Ruia has lost his credibility. If he cannot mobilise Rs 70 crore to run the factory, why did he take up the unit,” Pramatesh Sen, state general secretary of INTUC, said.

Througout the day, the union leaders kept waiting at the Writers’ Buildings for a tripartite meeting. Finally in the evening they were told to go home.

Ex-CPI MLA found guilty of taking bribe

KOLKATA, 26 Nov, 2008: An Assembly committee has found former CPI legislator Sheikh Illias Mahammad guilty of accepting money from the representatives of a fake NGO. The report was tabled in the Assembly on Tuesday by committee chairman Gyan Singh Sohanpal.

"The committee is of the view that there is reason to believe that the member had accepted money/bundle of notes from the reporters of NE Bangla channel, posing as representatives of an NGO," the report said.

Speaker Hashim Abdul Halim, however, said since Mahammad had already resigned as an MLA, there was nothing more the House could do. Following the sting operation by the TV channel, Trinamool Congress moved a motion of breach of privilege and contempt of the House against Mahammad, the MLA from Nandigram.

He was shown accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 from a reporter posing as an NGO worker. Mahammad was also shown issuing a certificate to the NGO.

First monorail to come up in Kolkata

Kolkata, November 26, 2008: Project today reported that Andromeda Technologies is planning to set up India's first monorail in Kolkata at a total outlay of INR 1,200 crore.

As per report, it has received permission from the West Bengal government to start a monorail that will cover a stretch of 20 kilometers from Budge Budge to Taratala. Construction work is likely to begin by March 2009 and is scheduled to be completed by 2011.

The monorail, which will have four coaches, each with its own electric generator and the capacity to accommodate 150 passengers will be based on hybrid technology.Of the total funds, INR 1,000 crore will come through debts from non resident Indians and INR 200 crore the equity component is expected by the end December 2008 from a foreign partner.

Derap AG and Helbing Tecknik AG of Switzerland are the technical partners of Andromeda in this monorail venture.The first 6 to 12 coaches of the monorail will come from Germany, after these, coaches will be made in India. The company is in talks with Titagarh Wagons and Texmaco for manufacturing the coach.

Bangladesh and other parts of India, such as Delhi, Pune, Patna, Bhubaneswar and Guwahati have also envinced their interest in setting up the monorail system.

SBI targets 30% growth in advances to Bengal circle SMEs

Kolkata, Nov 24: State Bank of India, Bengal circle, covering West Bengal, Sikkim and Andaman & Nicobar Islands, is eyeing a growth rate of more than 30% in the advances to the small and medium enterprises sector even as it falls short of the target till October 2008.

"We are looking at a growth rate of at least 30% during the period," said Jayanta K Sinha, chief general manager of the circle.

Advances to the SME sector to October 31, 2008, were at Rs 8,270 crore against Rs 7,200 crore for the same period the previous fiscal.

"We are a little short of our target for the period. But I think we can cover it by the end of this fiscal," he said.

"We have a target of increasing the advances to SMEs by Rs 2,600 crore by end of this fiscal," Sinha said. He was present at a seminar-cum-SME customer meet in the city on Monday.

"This is a seasonal phenomenon. Credit offtake increases during December-January each year," Sinha said.

According to him, some of the entrepreneurs might be waiting for the interest rate to soften.

For the bank, advances to the sector across India till October 2008 stood at Rs 1.93 lakh crore, against Rs 1.82 lakh crore disbursed in the same period last fiscal.

Bengali literature still has bright prospects -- Sunil Gangopadhyay

Eminent Indian poet and litterateur Sunil Gangopadhyay said that Bengali literature still has bright prospects, as the readership in West Bengal and Bangladesh is sizeable and growing.He made the remark while talking to a BSS correspondent on the concluding day of the three-day 'Sunil Mela' that ended on November 23.Sunil literature Practice and Research Centre organised the 'mela ' (fair) marking the 75th birth anniversary of the poet at his ancestral home at Purba Maijpara village under Kalkini Upazila. Sunil was accompanied by his wife Swati Gangopadhyay, elder brother Anil Gangopadhyay and daughter Konika Gangopadhyay.A total of 20 stalls displaying books written by Sunil at the fair, turned into a festival with the presence of poets, litterateurs, artistes and bookworms, among others. Other attractions of the fair included live performances of 'jari' and 'shari' songs.

A library and a healthcare centre, named after him, are being set up at Sunil's ancestral home. Sunil Gangopadhyay was born on September 7, 1934 in Faridpur. He obtained his Master's degree in Bengali from the University of Calcutta in 1954.

He was associated with the Ananda Bazar group, a major newspaper-publishing house in Kolkata, for many years. He is now the president of Sahitya Academy after serving as its vice-president for five years.

An author of more than 200 books, Sunil is widely regarded as one of the most prolific writers having excelled in different genres, but he proudly declares that poetry is his "first love."

He was the founder-editor of "Krittibas," a poetry magazine that became a platform for the new generation of poets, experimenting with many new forms in poetic themes, rhythms, and words.