Port trust in tea park plan

TT, 14 Mar 2019, Siliguri: Senior officials of the Calcutta Port trust advocated fright movement via railways from north Bengal and hinted that they were considering a proposal to set up a tea park near Calcutta and extend logistic support to the tea sector of the region.

Vinit Kumar, the chairman of the trust, was here on Wednesday to attend an interactive session with the business fraternity of the region, including those associated with tea industry.

"We feel railway is the most convenient and energy efficient mode of transport that can be used to send goods from here to other parts of the country. The ICD (Inland Container Depot) that has come up here (near New Jalpaiguri station) will also be of large help in this regard." The Calcutta port is located around 200km from the sea and is the oldest operating facility of the kind in the country. The Port Trust is planning to augment its capacity by around 40 per cent in next four-five years so that it can handle around 90 million metric tons in Haldia and Calcutta docks.

The interactive session was conducted to create awareness of the facilities of the Calcutta port among traders and business houses of north Bengal. During the interaction, members of the Confederation of Indian Industry said the CPT could take develop a tea park near Calcutta.

"We have discussed the proposal during the meeting. We have around about 50 acres of land at Panskura. Also, there are similar plots at other locations where such a project can be developed," said Kumar.