Thane, August 31: Nearly 170 galas (workshops or work spaces that double as industrial spaces) in Dharavi will be relocating to Pimplas village in Bhiwandi with a view to develop the flourishing leather goods industry, industry sources said.
In wake of the proposed redevelopment plan for Asia’s largest slum, a section of the industries will soon shift to Pimplas and start operations from next year, they said.
Ninnad R Jaywant, a member of the Leather Crafters Association, said that the new setup will be known as the Bhiwandi Leather Cluster.
He said that the occupants of the galas who were occupying a 250 sqft area will now have a spacious 2500 sqft built up area to themselves.
Initially, in the first phase, a total of 86 units will shift to the new location, he said adding this industry which will come up in the rural part of Thane will provide employment to nearly 10,000 people and will boost the local as well as export market with all the leather based products.
The group itself has procured a 2,00,000 square feet of land for development and each of the galas will be costing around Rs 16 lakh, Jaywant said.
The investment by each of the Gala owner is around Rs 40 lakh-Rs 2 crore and the total investment in the industry in the first phase is likely to be around Rs 10 crores and the turnover is likely to be around Rs 350 crores, he said.
—Agencies