West Bengal announces 16 lakh new houses, seven industrial park

The West Bengal government on Monday said it would allocate 16,36,522 more houses under its ‘Banglar Bari’ housing scheme by the middle of January next year, expanding one of its key welfare initiatives amid an ongoing funding dispute with the Centre.

Announcing the decision after a cabinet meeting, senior minister Chandrima Bhattacharya accused the central government of withholding support for the programme.

“To date, 12 lakh houses have already been handed over under the ‘Banglar Bari’ scheme despite the Centre depriving the state government. We will hand over 16,36,522 houses to those who deserve to get them by mid-January,” she said.

The cabinet also approved a major expansion of industrial infrastructure through the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation Limited (WBIDC) to boost employment opportunities, Bhattacharya said.

“New plots will be allocated for seven new industrial parks across the state. They will be set up in Coochbehar (2 plots), Kalyani (1), Uluberia (1), Bishnupur (1) and Falta (2),” she said.

She added that the state has been simultaneously strengthening road networks.

“Under the ‘Pathasree Grameen’ scheme, the government has constructed 9,000 roads with a total length of 15,011 km. On the other hand, 11,365 roads were constructed under ‘Pathasree Urban’ initiative, and their total length is 5,019 km,” she said.