“Various highly credible institutes like Indian Institute of Pharmaceutical Technology, National Institute of Medical Genetics, International Institute of Nanotechnology and a Centre for Mangrove Research are in the pipeline. We hope that they will materialise soon,” said Chakraborty.

The CPM MP added that there were no land acquisition hassles as South 24 Paraganas had patches of land that were not highly productive. “Farmers are willing to give up land as they are getting double the land’s worth,” he said.

Chakraborty today announced that the 5th Shilpa Banijya Mela on self-employment will be held at Baruipur from January 2 to 13. The mela is being organised by the Cottage and Small Scale Industries Association, South 24 Paraganas, in association with the district zila parishad, Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BNCCI) and the Baruipur Shilpa Bandhu - an organisation providing single-window access to markets, credit facilities and government norms for small-scale entrepreneurs.

The mela, to be inaugurated by Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi, will house around 350 stalls and 500 artisans. According to Chakraborty, the last exhibition was successful in establishing 295 small entrepreneurs. “We bring SMEs, potential buyers, exporters and leading banks under one roof to ensure easy access to local artisans and traders,” he said.

Business houses taking part in the fair include Patton, RP Group, DVC, and Peerless.

An integrated mushroom production and packaging unit is planned in Mallickhati-Bodra. The Rs 7-crore project, coming up on 25 bighas of land, will provide direct employment to 85 people.

“There are a number of hatcheries in the adjoining area. These enterprises will certainly benefit as chicken stool will be required to create soil conditions necessary to support cultivation of button-mushrooms,” said Amol Guha, Director, RP Ceramics Pvt Ltd. Guha is also the senior vice president of the Cottage and Small Scale Industries Association.