Agri-biotech cluster, waterways project for Bengal in budget

Kolkata, July 10 (IANS) An Agri-biotech cluster, National Waterways 1 project on river Ganga, and according Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) national importance status are among the benefits dished out to West Bengal Thursday in the maiden budget of the Narendra Modi government.

Presenting the budget, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced that a new agri-biotech cluster would be established in Kolkata.

Alongside Pune's Film & Television Institute, the SRFTI located near the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass here is being given the prestigious tag of institute of national importance, Jaitley said in his budget speech.

SRFTI director Sanjaya Pattanayak welcomed the move, saying it would open up new avenues for the institute.

"It is good to know that SRFTI is being considered important on a national scale. It will open up new avenues for education in the cinema and television. We have collaborative projects but this status will provide a boost to further partnerships globally," Pattanayak told IANS.

The budget saw a reiteration of the old announcement of developing an AIIMS like institution in West Bengal. Announced by then prime minister Manmohan Singh's United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in 2006, the project in the state has been a non-starter due to a political wrangling over its location.

While the UPA government wanted to set up the premium institute at Raiganj of north Bengal's North Dinajpur district, the Mamata Banerjee led state government had opposed the plan, arguing land was not available there. The Mamata regime has pitched for Kalyani in Nadia district as the site for the health institute.

Jaitley laid stress on growth of inland waterways, and announced that a project on the river Ganga called 'Jal Marg Vikas' (National Waterways-I) will be developed. Starting from Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh, the scheme would cover 1,620 kms and terminate at Haldia in West Bengal's East Midnaproe district.

With Jaitley hoping the project will "enable commercial navigation of at least 1,500 tonne vessels", it could lead to more traffic for Haldia port and boost trade and commerce in the state.

The project is slated to be completed in six years.

The budget also promised that the "Amritsar Kolkata Industrial master planning will be completed expeditiously for the establishment of industrial smart cities in seven states".

The project seeks to boost the manufacturing sector and is proposed to be developed in a band of 150-200 km on either side of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor in a phased manner.

Another good news for the state is the christening of the project for providing efficient civic infrastructure and associate services after Syama Prasad Mookerjee - a son of Bengal.

An educationist par excellence, he was the youngest vice chancellor of Calcutta University in British India and the founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh.

Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission will be launched to deliver integrated project based infrastructure in the rural areas, which will also include development of economic activities and skill development, said Jaitley.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, however, slammed the budget, accusing the Modi government of "depriving" Bengal.

Dwelling on the finance minister raising the FDI cap in insurance and defence to 49 percent, Banerjee said the Modi government has "become a government of the FDI, by the FDI and for the FDI".

Banerjee attacked the NDA government for not including her state among the six new textile clusters announced in the budget, and denying a Horticulture University "even though Bengal is the largest fruits and vegetables producer in the country".

She said in both the railway budget and the general budget, "Bengal and so many other states are getting deprived".

"The new government has just started functioning with a political vendetta. It is the morning that shows the day," Banerjee said.