By IANS,
Lucknow : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav Wednesday gave the go-ahead to two greenfield Mega Leather Cluster (MLC) projects. Officials said the move was aimed at boosting the traditionally productive leather industry in the state, which had fallen on hard times in recent days.
The decision was taken after the chief minister met a delegation of Kanpur’s leather industrialists. Yadav assured the delegates that his government would extend all possible help to the mega leather clusters, which are expected to rake in investment of around Rs.2,000 crore.
The chief minister issued directions to the Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation (UPSIDC) to make land available for these projects.
One of the leather parks will come up in around 300 acres in Sandila Industrial Area of UPSIDC, in Hardoi district. The second will be set up in Ramaipur area of district Kanpur, where 625 acres have been already identified in Kuraina Bahadur Nagar and Senpurabpara villages.
Infrastructure and Industrial Development Commissioner (IIDC), Anil Kumar Gupta said: “The government is keen to strengthen traditional industries with potential, and this is a step in that direction.”
IIDC added that the proposed integrated leather parks would have world class infrastructure with a production chain equipped with the latest technology, to meet demands of domestic markets as well as export ones.
To protect the interest of small and medium enterprises, the parks will have 50 percent of the units belonging to the small and medium sector, with modern facilities for production. Besides, in order to mitigate pollution and ensure environment conservation, there will be facilities for treating effluents generated in the parks. Provisions for rain water harvesting, warehousing, raw material banks, exhibition centre, design centre and human resource development are also proposed in these leather clusters.
Each of the parks would have an investment of Rs.1,000 crore, and offer employment to nearly 10,000 people.
Manoj Singh, managing director of the Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation said the mega leather clusters would be implemented through special purposes vehicles (SPV) under a Government of India scheme, which provides for 70 percent contribution by the central government.