Kolkata, November 22: Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee would lay the foundation of the first of 10 auto hubs the railways plan to set up all over the country at Shalimar in Howrah district of West Bengal on November 28.
In her efforts to turn the railways into an ‘engine of economic growth’, Banerjee has given green signal to the setting up of 10 auto hubs with private participation.
“The Railways would provide the land and private players would set up the units under Public-Private Partnership,” Banerjee told PTI today.
She said she would disclose the names of other places where the auto hubs would be set up.
The hubs would be revenue generating projects aimed at ensuring development in the automobile sector in line with the various ventures that were being taken to make the railways one of the key factors of the country’s economic growth, the Railway Minister said.
Banerjee is also scheduled to inaugurate the ‘Kisan Vision Project’ at Singur in Hooghly district on November 29.
The project is meant to specifically benefit the farmers whose land had been acquired for the aborted Tata Motors Nano project at Singur and also the agricultural labourers and marginal farmers.
Under the ‘Kisan Vision Project’ announced by Banerjee in her budget speech, special trains will be run from production clusters to consumer centres for perishable products like fruits and vegetables and also for village handicrafts to increase outreach and access to new markets for rural produce.
Banerjee has already suggested setting up of a rail coach factory in collaboration with the West Bengal government or on the public-private-partnership model at the abandoned Nano project site at Singur.
Her proposal had come after the state government’s initiative to set up a 1,600 MW power plant with public sector Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd at the site in Hooghly district.
–PTI