Memorandum submitted to Union Minister of State for Defence & Tourism to reopen Wimco

A CORRESPONDENT

DHUBRI: On behalf of the people of Dhubri, a delegation led by social activist Dipankar Mazumdar submitted a memorandum to Union Minister of State for Defence and Tourism, Ajay Bhatt demanding the reopening of Wimco.

The memorandum stated that presently Wimco, owned by ITC, was doing nothing there. However, by adopting PPP (Public Private Partnership) Model, there are ample opportunities to set up a bamboo-based industry, jute industry, cold storage, biscuit industry, incense industry, mustard oil industry, mineral water bottling plants and many other industries.

The memorandum further stated that Wimco, established by a Swedish company in 1925, was closed down in 1996, which not only displaced nearly 3000 employees but also hit hard the local economy based on this factory and thus in fact, the closure of this factory brought an extremely bleak future of industrialisation in this part of Assam.

Later, the entire land measuring around 175 bighas along with infrastructure was sold to ITC business group in 2001. However, people of Dhubri hoped that business giant ITC would reopen some industries on the said land. 21 long years have elapsed since taking over the possession of Wimco, but unfortunately till now, the group has not started any new industrial activity here, it said. Union Minister gave a patient hearing and assured the delegation to look into the demand and take the matter with ITC soon.

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