From the Calcutta End

September 11, 1954

Durgapur Coke-oven Project

I F southern Ind ia wants separate States, the people of West

Bengal seem to be strong advocates of State Rights. Calcutta resents New Delhi 's authority. This is not a new development. It can be traced to some incidental deve­lopments during Brit ish Rule. Even now, wi th independence, the feeling of resentment persists. The PSP slogan for political de­centralisation is popular in West Bengal. Today, in Calcutta, one often hears people ci t ing the lesson of history: Delhi is the home of lost empires.

This feeling of resentment has many aspects and facets. Bu t one cannot escape the tantalising feel­ing that Calcutta never gets what it wants. Rajaji forced the Centre to help the Madras handloom weavers at. the cost of the m i l l industry. Shri Morar j i Desai has not only made Bombay a dry State, Bombay's Chief Minister behaves as if he owes no obliga­tion to New Delhi . Similar is sup­posed to be the behaviour of Dr B C Roy. Calcutta is fond of political gossip. Gossip is that on all occasions when Pandit Nehru wants to intervene in West Bengal affairs, its Chief Minister mi ld ly , but f i rmly, hints that the Prime Minister would do well not to dabble in matters which he cannot comprehend.

Rajaji and the Chief Ministers of Bombay and West Bengal have a reputation as " strong State-men. But Bombay and Madras seem to get al l they want. The handloom weavers of Madras are now happy. Rajaj i can claim to have cured New Delhi of its addiction to controls. Madras w i l l have an o i l refinery, Bombay can boast of two oi l refi­neries. It has now become the home of private and State-owned pharmaceutical industry.

West Bengal is unlucky. None of this State's plans seems to maturp. There was a time when the location of an oi l refinery at Calcutta was under consideration. Pilot surveys indicate r ich oi l re­sources in the West Bengal basin. Calcutta's case for an oi l refinery was not weak. Bu t New Delhi did not accept Calcutta's, claim for, an oil refinery. This caused much dis­appointment. But more disappoint­ments were to follow , ,, ,...

West Bengal made a strong case

for the location of a steel plant at Durgapur in Burdwan district. A battle royal was fought between West Bengal, Orissa and New Delhi. West Bengal finally lost the battle. Rourkela in Orissa was eventually selected as the site for the location of the new steel plant. That was a severe blow to the industrial importance of West Ben­gal Undeterred by failures, West Bengal pursued its efforts to secure New Delhi 's sanction to start new projects in order to stimulate indus­trial development and employment in the Slate.

West Bengal must industrialise or perish. Partitioned Bengal is a small State. The scope for agricul­tural expansion is l imited as there is not enough uncultivated land which can be brought under the plough. East Bengal " refugees " arc aggravating the unemployment problem. It is common ground that both " refugee " and un­employment problems can be tackl­ed only through industrialisation. Some industrial projects have been formulated by the West Bengal Government. But none of these plans is being implemented.

There is a project for a modern salt works on Contai sea coast. West Bengal does not produce enough salt for its needs. Some of its industries require more and cheaper salt supplies. Some French experts examined the plan for a modern saltern at Contai. But nothing has come out of these plans and projects. There is an­other plan under consideration for a soda ash factory at Contai or at Durgapur. There is a well-deve­loped glass and pottery industry in and around Calcutta. I t would have welcomed the formation of a soda ash factory. Bu t the plan is still being considered by New Delhi experts. It has not yet been decid­ed whether a soda ash factory would be started in this part of India , and, if so, where it would be located.

West Bengal is f l i r t ing wi th the idea of making Ka lyan i , on the Sealdah suburban railway sector, the future town of East Bengal " refugees" I t s industrial pro­jects seem to be concentrated on Durgapur, in Burdwan district. There are plans for making K a l ­yan i a university town wi th a miniature Kharagpur Institute of

Technology. Here, according to plans, the refugees w i l l have to become skilled workers. In and around Kalyani , in the 24 Parga-rias, small-scale industries w i l l be established for the rehabilitation of " refugees ".

A l l the major industrial projects of the West Bengal Government seem to be centred on Durgapur. Because economic and technical factors are favourable, Durgapur wax chosen by the West .Bengal Government as the site for the proposed steel plant. It is near .Burdwan. As DVC is being com­pleted, its administrative and main­tenance establishments are being shifted to Burdwan. It is away from the Hast Bengal border, but nearer to Bihar 's coal fields. These arc the reasons which seem to have influenced the West Bengal Gov­ernment to convert Durgapur into a second industrial Calcutta.

Bu t the West Bengal Govern­ment's plans have gone awry. Durgapur wi l l not be the location for the proposed steel plant. New Delhi may not agree to locate a soda ash factory there. New Delhi seems to be opposed even to the West Bengal ' Government's plan for starting a coke-oven plant there. Recently, the West Bengal Government had consultations with the various departments concerned in New Delhi . I t was, according to reports, decided to ' appoint a fact-finding committee to investi­gate the problem in al l its aspects.

New Delhi 's reportedly cold reception to the Durgapur coke-

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September 11, 1954 T H E E C O N O M I C W E E K L Y

oven plant is being interpreted in Calcutta to mean that the Central Government is either not prepared to endorse the West Bengal Gov­ernment's plans, or is not satisfied that ' the West Bengal Govern­ment's plans and estimates are correct. This has created a furore in Calcutta. There is popular resentment that New Delhi is not sympathetic to the West Bengal Government's plans for industrial­isation. In industrial circles, there is dissatisfaction over the protract­ed parleys between the two Gov­ernments for starting new industrial projects.

Evidently, Dr B C Roy is not pleased with the reported objection of New Delhi to his Government's plans for Parting a coke-oven plant in Durgapor. Wi th the rejection of the proposal to start a steel plant in Durgapur, the coke-oven scheme has become the major industrial project of the West Bengal Government. Evidently, West Bengal's Chief Minister is determined to push through his plans. He has hinted that his Government has not approached New Delhi for financial help to start the- project. The implication is that, in the circumstances. New Delhi has no business or authority to try to dictate terms and condi­tions to Calcutta. That tenders

for the installation of the twelve-crore plant have already been invited shows the West Bengal Government's determination to go ahead wi th the Durgapur project.

Is the proposed Durgapur coke-oven plant an economic proposi­tion? It w i l l produce 850 tons of coke per day. Its daily produc­tion of gas w i l l be six mil l ion cubic feet for over-heating and ten mil l ion cubic feet for supply to Calcutta and Chittaranjan. It wi l l also produce 60,000 kw of power. Its by-products include naphthalene and creosote oils; pi tch, road and coal tar; carbon black and similar other items which i n ­dustry needs, but are now import­ed because they are not available in the country.

What about the demand for these products? On the assump­tion that steel expansion plans are completed according to sche­dule, the West Bengal Govern­ment does not anticipate any sur­plus in the proposed Durgapur plant's coke-producing capacity. Calcutta wi l l certainly be able to consume all the gas that is pro­duced in the Durgapur plant. It is on the gas output of the Durga­pur plant that an ambitious pro­ject for introducing gas-cooking in Calcutta's houses is being blue­printed. Calcutta's dirt and smoke

come from the coal-based home and factory. Replacement of coal by gas as home fuel wi l l be wel­comed in the wider interest of the health of Calcutta's population.

Elaborate plans and estimates have been prepared by the West Bengal Government wi th the help of experts. It and its experts have no doubts that coke and gas can be produced at Durgapur and supplied to the consumers at much cheaper rates. This Durgapur pro­ject is being determinedly advocat­ed by the West Bengal Government for its possible effects on industrial­isation and employment. Because the West Bengal Government is not seeking financial aid from the Centre for this project, it does not necessarily mean that New Delhi is not the final authority to take a decision on this issue. Under the existing legislation, New Delhi reserves the right of licensing indus­trial establishments so as to ensure proper distribution and the locali­sation of industry. But there w i l l be grave popular and official resent­ment if New Delhi vetoes the West Bengal Government's Durgapur industrial project without convinc­ing the people and the Govern­ment that it is not, and cannot become, an economic proposition.