Kolkata, September 10: The West Bengal government on Wednesday announced incentives for setting up of 100 private industrial parks for the MSME sector in the state. Home Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay said that these parks will help generate employment, and a decision in this regard was taken at a state cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Fourteen industrial parks for various sectors have already come up in the state in the past six years over 1,300 acres of land and the new ones will be set up in addition to these, he told reporters at state secretariat 'Nabanna'. To facilitate the setting up of these parks, the 'West Bengal Incentive Scheme 2014 for State Approved Industrial Parks' has been extended for another five years, he said. Mamata Banerjee Announces Total Lockdown in West Bengal on Sept 7, 11 and 12 Amid COVID-19, Orders All Educational Institutes to Remain Shut Till Sept 20.

The government will encourage ancillary logistics, warehouses and cold storage facilities in these private industrial parks, he said. Bandyopadhyay said the state government will reimburse Rs 2 crore of investment for setting up the parks on 20-39 acres of land, Rs 4 crore for 40-59 acres of land, Rs 6 crore for 60-79 acres, Rs 8 crore for 80-99 acres and Rs 10 crore for setting up the parks on 100 acres of land.

If the units set up effluent treatment plant, the state government will also give Rs 5 lakh per acre as incentive, he said. The government will also build a power substation free of cost if the developer of the park can provide necessary land to the state, he added. The state will also construct a road, within its 1.5 km radius, connecting the park to the nearest existing arterial road, Bandyopadhyay said.

The Kolkata Leather Park and Foundry Park in Howrah, besides other such parks, have already been able to create largescale job opportunities, he said. The parks should come up on minimum 20 acres of land and have at least 20 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) units, he said. The official said that 20 per cent of the approved investment should preferably be spent to have a common facility centre in each park.