Land woes scuttle proposed logistics hub near Kolkata

KOLKATA: The bad news keeps rolling in for the Mamata Banerjee government on the industry front. Balmer Lawrie & Co, the Rs 2,450-crore mini-ratna PSU, on Wednesday shelved a logistics hub project in Dankuni on the city outskirts because the government would not allow the clearances that would let the company buy land.
On Tuesday, Kolkata had lost the prestigious Partnership Summit to Agra, as an aftershock of Trinamool Congress' split from UPA.
The Dankuni multi-modal hub would have been the first of its kind in Bengal, say sources. The project was worth Rs 150 crore and would have meant bug business for the state. Balmer Lawrie & Co - the most diversified of all PSUs - had already identified the land and sought certain clearances from the state government. But it was turned down, said a senior official of the company, who was working on the project.
The PSU sought three kinds of approvals from the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC), all concerning land. "We sought exemption under the West Bengal Land Reforms Act and Under Urban Land Ceiling Act. We also sought approval for converting 45-acres agriculture land to industrial land. But we were later told by a state government department that these permissions cannot be given. We had no option but to shelve our plans," a source said. WBIDC is the nodal agency for economic development in the state.
A multi-modal logistics hub is an integrated facility with warehousing and cold storage facilities, a distribution network and is well connected with the railways. Such a hub would have been a boon for Bengal that is saddled with inadequate infrastructure.
Balmer Lawrie & Co is working on similar multi-modal logistics hubs in Visakhapatnam and has already signed a pact with the Visakhapatnam Port Trust. The joint-venture project is coming up on 50-acres at an investment of Rs 170-180 crore. "The technical and financial feasibility study is over for the Vizag project. We are now working out the finer details," a source said.
Earlier in the day, Viren Sinha, chairman and managing director of the PSU, said they had lined up Rs 300-400 crore investment in various businesses. "We are setting up a container manufacturing plant in Navi Mumbai. One major investment would be setting up an absolutely modern through-put steel barrel manufacturing plant at Navi Mumbai at an investment of Rs 100 crore," he said at the 95th annual general meeting of the company.
Balmer Lawrie produces about 40 lakh barrels at eight plants and is looking to increase its container making capacity by about 30%. "Work is under way. We have about 8 acres land and the project will be completed in 15 months," Sinha said. The company has three container freight stations at Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.