Wednesday, April 22, 2009

We have heard long and loud about how the Nano would have changed the face of Bengal-tempted more industrialists to flock to Bengal. I do not know how this will turn out. But for now, I am starting to list the industries that have closed down in the past years, by militant trade unionism of CITU and apathy of the government.

If you are reading this and think there are more names you can think of, please contribute. I will try and go on adding details of every factory, over time.
  1. Bengal Lamp Factory- Jadavpur (closed down 1989)
  2. Annapurna Glass Factory- Jadavpur (Ekta Heights has come up in its place now)
  3. Sulekha Works- Jadavpur (closed down Jan 1989)
  4. USHA Factory- Prince Anwar Shah Road (South City has come up here)
  5. National Instruments- Jadavpur (Land sold to JU)
  6. Jessop's Factory
  7. Kakinara Paper Mill
  8. Haringhata Dairy Farm
  9. Dhakeswari Cotton Mill
  10. Asansol glass factory
  11. Sen Raleigh Bicycle Factory CCIL Asansol
  12. The Mining and Allied Machinery Corporation (MAMC) Durgapur
  13. Dunlop Tyre factory
  14. Beni Engineering- (1987)
  15. Mohini Mills- Belgharia (Closed down in 1988)
  16. Basanti Cotton Mills- Panihati (Closed down May 1987)
  17. Hindwire -
  18. B.T. Road - wire manufacturing company
  19. Thermal Power Station- Shyamnagar
  20. National Tannery (Close down 1995/6)
  21. Aluminius Manufacturing Company (AMCO) (Close down in 1985)
  22. Eastern Paper Mill- (Closed down in 1986)
  23. Siddhartha Apparels- (Closed down in 2002)
  24. Kolay Biscuits- (Closed down in 1980s)
  25. Metal Box (Closed down )
  26. Dunbar Cotton Mills
  27. Small Tools Manufacturing Company
  28. Bangodaya Cotton Mill (Closed down in 1984) (Peerless Abasan’ has come up after dismantling Bangodaya Cotton Mills)
  29. Indo-Japan Steels Ltd. (Closed down in 1996)
  30. Tyre Corporation of India
  31. Bengal Pottery (Closed down in 1993)
  32. Bharat Brakes and Valves
  33. Smith Stainisstreet
  34. Electrical Manufacturing Company (EMC)
  35. Sur Enamel
  36. Scientific Indian Glass Company (Closed for more than 25 years. A huge complex of six multi-storeyed apartment blocks collectively referred to as Brindaban Gardens is already in place.)
  37. Oriental Metal Industries (Made way for a residential complex)
  38. Structural Engineering
  39. Sekhar Iron
  40. Titagarh Paper Mill (Dying) and does not produce paper any more
  41. Apollo Zipper
  42. East Anglia Plastics
  43. Ruby Paints (residential apartment constructed)
  44. Hindustan Iron popularly called ‘rod call’ (residential apartment constructed)
  45. ARP Rubber (residential apartment constructed)
  46. New Luck Rubber (residential apartment constructed)
  47. Business Firms (preparation ongoing for residential apartment)
  48. Asila Pharmaceuticals
  49. Motor Machinery Manufacturing
  50. Paul Lehman
  51. Vegal Engine and Engineering
  52. Siddheshwari Hosiery (residential apartment under construction)
  53. BMT Mills (residential apartment under construction)
  54. Chopra Motors and Chaliha Rolling Mills-Tollygunj
  55. American Refrigerator (ARCO) -Taratolla
  56. Machinery Manufacturing Company (MMC)-Taratolla
  57. Bengal Ingot-Taratolla
  58. Das Reprographics-Taratolla
  59. Avery-Taratolla
  60. Glaxo-Taratolla
  61. Rolls Mills-Taratolla
  62. Poddar Projects-Taratolla
  63. Shalimar Tar-Taratolla
  64. Rolls Print-Taratolla
  65. Siddhartha Apparels-Taratolla
  66. WEBEL (the manufacturing units have closed down)-Taratolla
  67. Air Condition-Taratolla
  68. Kesoram Cotton-Taratolla
  69. Farinni-Taratolla
  70. Angel India-Taratolla
  71. Steel and Allied Products-Taratolla
  72. APJ India-Taratolla
  73. Mahindra and Mahindra-Taratolla
  74. ALCON-Taratolla
  75. universal Autocraft-Taratolla
  76. Mandal Rubber-Phool bagan-Taratolla
  77. Surah (Bally) Jute Mill
  78. Gobinda Sheet Metals
  79. Kedar Rubber
  80. Calcutta Jute Mill
  81. Orient Fan- (dying)
  82. Tata Oil Mill
  83. Santosh Biscuits
  84. Bengal Chemical has sold some of its ‘excess’ land on which a multinational school has come up
  85. Small Tools Manufacturing Limited, which has been dismantled of late paving the way for the proposed ‘Orchid Towers

In 2003, the Government of West Bengal had asked WEBCON (a State Government public sector consultancy firm) to carry out a study on the ‘excess’ land located within various industries. The study revealed that there were about 41,000 acres of ‘excess’ land in just 500 industrial units in West Bengal.