The Hindu Business Line : Work on Bengal auto park next fiscal

Kolkata, Oct. 6 Construction work at the proposed 500-acre auto components park at Guptamoni in West Midnapur district of West Bengal is expected to commence in the next financial year, according to Mr Sumanta Chaudhury, CEO, West Bengal Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation.

The West Bengal Government was committed to go forward with the project in joint venture with Srei Infrastructure, even as the scrapping of the Tata Motors’ car manufacturing unit at Singur a year back had raised doubts over the project’s viability, he told reporters on the sidelines of a conference on construction equipment industry organised by Confederation of Indian Industries, Eastern Region, here on Tuesday.

“The project is on course and construction at the site is expected to start from 2010-11,” he said, without giving any timeline for the completion of the project.

Special purpose vehicle

A special purpose vehicle (SPV), formed by WBIIDC a year ago in partnership with Srei, appointed Jurong Consultants of Singapore to prepare a master plan for the project. However, no deadline was so far set for Jurong to submit the report, Mr Chaudhury said.

The SPV has already started purchasing land at the project site, he said, adding that the Centre has given in-principle SEZ approval for 250 acres, while the balance 250 acres would be used for manufacturing auto components catering to the domestic markets. A part of the land at the proposed project site is vested land.

The SPV would closely watch the global automobile market conditions before deciding on how much should be exported from the SEZ unit, he pointed out. “As of now, we have decided to export 50 per cent of the production. This would, however, depend on the global conditions as the sector is still going through a bit of turmoil,” he said.

The SPV was yet to decide on the anchor manufacturers for the project, he said, adding that the State Government could also allow construction equipment manufacturers to take land in the project.

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