Demonetisation has left us almost cashless. In these times of acute financial emergency, providing job options for the weaker section and younger lot is the need of the hour in West Bengal and across the country. It comes as really good news to hear that a big-ticket project worth Rs 700 crore from battery major, Exide Industries Limited has taken off in the industrial town of Haldia. The project is incidentally the first-of-its-kind in the country to make lead acid storage batteries with the help of punched grid technology. Inaugurating the factory in Haldia, Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of West Bengal said, Bengal has emerged as the industrial destination of the country with a number of significant projects riding on its shoulders. A new port is coming up at Tajpur in the vicinity of Digha that has sound potential. Haldia has received Rs 10 crore worth of investment last year and we are sprucing up the connectivity of the industrial town. With the tourism sector emerging quite well in Digha, the beach resort is all set to get a new international convention centre. We are also setting up a Software Technology Park worth Rs 100 crore in Salt Lake in Kolkata. Panagarh Industrial Park is coming up as well in the district of Burdwan. Bengal Information Technology Park has also taken off in Haldia. The chief minister further said, Demonetisation has made an impact in Bengal and a number of people have become jobless. The new industries being set up can break new grounds in employment. Industries along with ancillary setups are big assets of the country and West Bengal leads the country in micro, small and mediumscale enterprises. Around 37 per cent of the batteries are made by the small-scale sector. Gautam Chatterjee, managing director and chief executive officer, Exide Industries Limited informed, Punched grid batteries are highly premium products that have low corrosion and last long. These batteries last five years more than the common ones, which have a lifespan of only three years. We cater to the motor bike industry with our batteries. The sale of motorbikes is usually high in rural areas and it depends upon the flow of cash. There has been a decline in the sale of motorbikes owing to the demonetisation move. The sale of motorbikes has dipped by 30 per cent since December, last year. Exide Industries has around 11 battery-making factories across the country. Chatterjee added, Haldia has been chosen for setting up the punched grid battery factory owing to its sound work culture. Our companys production is highest in Haldia among other factories in the country. When it comes to making batteries, we provide cutting-edge technology in the sphere of global battery technology and our products are at par with those made in China and Vietnam.