A senior official of the ministry of heavy industries (MHI) has visited the closed factory and township of Hindustan Cables Limited (HCL) at Rupnarayanpur in West Burdwan district, raising fresh hopes of new investment in the area.
KD Prasad, an official from New Delhi, held a series of meetings with HCL officials in Rupnarayanpur and also with an officer of the West Bengal government’s land and land reforms department.
Over the past year, DIG-rank officers of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) had visited New Delhi and Burnpur to inspect the land and township. These visits had indicated that the ministry of home affairs was interested in setting up a paramilitary forces hub in eastern India.
The latest development has generated renewed interest, as this is the first time in the past 10 years that a top MHI official has visited Rupnarayanpur. Earlier, the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), under the defence ministry, had also shown interest in the closed factory land at Rupnarayanpur.
During the visit, Mr Prasad inspected land maps and held discussions with D Samanta, an official of HCL, and Debashish Shaw, an officer of the state land and land reforms department, regarding the current market price of the land. The delegation also took photographs of land near Deshbandhu Park and the large water body near the Upper Kesia bus stand in Rupnarayanpur.