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Time of India
19-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Siliguri to get international convention centre, IT & industrial parks: Mamata
Kolkata: Siliguri would soon get an international convention centre, the third in the state after Kolkata and Digha, and land had been identified for the same, CM Mamata Banerjee said on Monday. The state was also setting up an IT park and four industrial parks in north Bengal, Banerjee said during an interaction at the North Bengal Business Meet in Siliguri. The CM instructed Goutam Deb, the mayor of Siliguri Municipal Corporation, to prepare a plan to expand the Siliguri city area. Banerjee said the convention centre was planned considering the importance of Siliguri as a regional business hub. She said a core group, to be chaired by chief secretary Manoj Pant, would be established for development of the proposed centre. Banerjee asked Ambuja Neotia Group chairman Harsh Neotia, Luxmi Group MD Rudra Chatterjee and Techno India chairman Satyam Roychowdhury, who were present at the business meet, to be part of the group. "We have identified 10 acres of land for the project. Goutam Deb has helped us in identifying the land, which is near Uttarayan. There was land near Bagdogra airport as well, but that is a 4-acre plot. It might not be sufficient," the CM said. The Siliguri convention centre would have a hotel as well, like those in Kolkata and Digha, she added. Banerjee inaugurated the Webel IT park in north Bengal, which would attract an investment of Rs 100 crore. This would be an AI-enabled data centre cluster, the first of its kind in north Bengal. She also inaugurated four industrial parks for MSMEs in different parts of north Bengal. The West Bengal Small Industries Development Corporation would implement these parks at an investment of Rs 80 crore. The total area would be 123.8 acres and these parks would employ more than 5,000 people. The CM inaugurated a skywalk at Jalpesh Shiva Temple in Jalpaiguri, the third skywalk in a temple in the state after Dakshineswar and Kalighat. She also announced six Volvo bus services from six north Bengal districts to Digha for those who wanted to visit the Jagannath temple. Banerjee directed municipalities to stop excessive charges collected under the guise of trade licences. State power minister Aroop Biswas said the power demand in north Bengal had gone up from 840 MW in 2011 to 3,500 MW now, which was testimony to the region's development. Naresh Agarwal, vice-president of Credai West Bengal, later said Darjeeling district would see construction of 15 hotels worth Rs 1,175 crore. He added that Rs 9,000 crore would be invested in different industrial parks in north Bengal. CM for 5-star hotel near Bagdogra airport CM Mamata Banerjee on Monday proposed the setting up of a five-star hotel near Bagdogra airport. There was a 4-acre land which could be used for the purpose as there was no good hotel near the airport, she said. Currently, 36 pairs of flights operate daily from Bagdogra.
Time of India
19-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
‘State to set up task force, lab to protect Darjeeling tea'
1 2 3 Siliguri/Kolkata: Raising concerns over the mixing of Darjeeling tea with other low-quality teas, CM Mamata Banerjee said on Monday that the state would set up a lab to check these occurrences. "We are setting up a task force for this as well," she added. The issue was raised by Luxmi Group managing director Rudra Chatterjee, who owns Makaibari Tea Estate in Darjeeling. Tea from Nepal, often cheaper and grown at similar altitudes, is being blended with Darjeeling tea and sold as the latter, potentially diluting its unique flavour and quality and affecting its reputation. Darjeeling tea has a GI tag. The CM emphasised the urgent need to establish a strong brand identity for Darjeeling tea, as teas from other countries were being falsely marketed under its name. She appointed Chatterjee to lead a committee dedicated to the branding and protection of authentic Darjeeling tea. "Fifty years ago, this used to happen in Germany. We at Makaibari are branding our tea. But there is a need for the entire Darjeeling tea to be branded," Chatterjee told TOI. He said all 87 operating gardens in Darjeeling should have its own brand. The total production of Darjeeling tea is around 7 million kg. Apart from Makaibari, only a few other gardens there have branded tea. Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, in an order dated April 23, 2024, had mandated that all imported teas needed to be subjected to full and accurate testing per FSSAI pr-otocol. "Cheap, duty-free dumping of low-quality and FSSAI non-compliant teas from Nepal has turned the Darjeeling tea industry into an ICU patient," a tea expert said.
