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.