The state commerce and industry department has created a new post of industrial engineer in the West Bengal Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (WBIIDC) to boost investment in north Bengal.

Santanu Talukdar, a retired engineer of the WBIIDC, has been put in the post. He will work from the office of the WBIIDC in Raninagar on the outskirts of Jalpaiguri.

Contacted, Talukdar said: "The state government is keen on industrial investments. We will function under state directives to bring fresh investments to north Bengal."

Sources said this post has been created to oversee the four industrial development centres of the WBIIDC located in Raninagar and Dabgram of Jalpaiguri district and in Cooch Behar and Malda districts.

“So far, executive engineers were posted in these centres. Now, a new and higher post of industrial engineer has been created to look after all these centres and work in tandem with government departments and prospective investors to expedite private industrial investment in north Bengal,” said a source in the WBIIDC.

Sources said that at a business summit in Siliguri earlier this month, investment proposals to the tune of Rs 24,000 crore were made north Bengal.

“We have begun identifying vacant plots at industrial centres. There are certain plots which entrepreneurs had taken earlier but later didn’t set up their units on. Such plots are being identified so that they can be handed over to new investors. In fact, in Cooch Behar, two such plots have been provided to new investors,” the source added.

In Raninagar, around 8.65 acres of land have been found unused. In Malda and Cooch Behar, vacant land of 2.81 acres and 2.20 acres, respectively, have been marked.

“The state is encouraging investments in the MSME sector. It has been decided to create new industrial centres on government land measuring 40 to 50 acres. The state will develop basic infrastructure,” said an official of WBIIDC.

The corporation, he said, is identifying new locations and gathering information from trade bodies and other sources about tentative investments and land needs in each district.

“The industrial engineer will monitor this process and check if a private company unit is facing problem in running its units. In such cases, he will intervene,” the official added.