West Bengal government has been planning to carve out as a separate district the industrial region of Durgapur-Asansol in Burdwan district, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Saturday.
Talking to reporters at Durgapur, she said the state government had various plans for development of the Asansol-Durgapur region.
Ms. Banerjee said a helicopter service for three industrial towns - Durgapur, Asansol and Haldia - would start soon.
The SAIL would invest Rs 20,000 crore for expansion of the Durgapur Steel Plant, she said adding a polytechnic college would also come up at Durgapur.
The Chief Minister, however, did not reply to a question on the fate of the aerotropolis project at Andal in Burdwan district which was facing rough weather with landlosers demanding higher compensation and other reasons.
Meanwhile BJP has thanked West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for the move to change the name of ‘Jyoti Basunagar’ at Rajarhat and suggested that it be renamed ‘Shyamaprasad Mukherjeenagar’ as a fitting tribute to the patriot.
Stating that no township should be named after Jyoti Basu ‘who pushed back progress’ of West Bengal during his tenure as Chief Minister, BJP state president Rahul Sinha said “I must thank Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for saving the dignity of the residents of the township.”
Mr. Sinha said that it was in the fitness of things that the township be renamed after Mr. Mukherjee whose efforts provided shelter to innumerable refugees from erstwhile East Pakistan in Bengal after Partition.
