On Wednesday, the day he arrived at the location, a private investor who chose to reopen his industrial unit at the Raninagar Industrial Centre, on the outskirts of Jalpaiguri town, after 13 years, claimed to have received “phone calls” connected to Trinamul union leaders.
J.D. Gupta, chairman-cum-managing director of JD Industries (India) Limited, claimed that he had started receiving the calls as soon as he arrived in Raninagar.
“I reached here today (Wednesday) to facilitate the reopening of the factory for iron and pre-galvanised pipes. Ever since I came here, I received a number of calls from people asking me to meet trade union leaders of Trinamul before I start work. I don’t know why I’m being to meet these leaders,”.
On 10.1 acres near Raninagar, his business built an iron pipe manufacturing facility in 2006. However, the Raninagar unit was shut down in 2009 due to “internal difficulties” by the same corporation that operated comparable facilities in Rajasthan and Punjab.
Gupta recently decided to reopen the facility and consulted with representatives of the West Bengal Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation and the state Department of Trade and Industry (WBIIDC, which runs the industrial centre).
“I was assured of every help by officials. We intend to pump in around Rs 5 crore. We have set a monthly production target of 500 tonnes. Initially, around 100 people will get jobs,” Gupta, accompanied by WBIIDC officials to the site, said.
“But calls on the very first day upset me,” he said.“If an investor faces problems because of anyone linked to our party, we will take stern steps.”