KOLKATA, 5 JUNE: The state minister for commerce and industry Partha Chatterjee said, “Howrah should become more environmentally friendly,” at the inauguration of an Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting factory in the industrial park at Uluberia yesterday. He said that Howrah should become like Sheffield in its heydey, referring to the former centre of UK industrial production. Mr Chatterjee was joined by the Union minister of state for tourism Sultan Ahmed, who promised that there would be no forceful land acquisition in the re-industrialisation of Howrah. The factory land was acquired from the West Bengal Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (WBIDC) by Jagwani Projects Pvt. Ltd in 2010, and the factory ~ which manufactures energy-saving lighting ~ started production today, according to Jagwani director Suniil Jagwani. They have already had three orders for tube lights and high bay lights, from companies in Haldia, Nassig and central India. “We chose to build our factory in the Uluberia industrial estate because all the facilities ~ water supply, power and electricity ~ were already there.” The industrial growth centre at Uluberia-Bauria, where the factory has been constructed, is one of four WBIDC industrial complexes in Howrah. The combined area of the Uluberia-Bauria industrial estates is 181.77 acres, according to the WBIIDC website, with space for up to 65 units. There is resistance to some development projects in the area. Local land owners and sharecroppers held protests two weeks ago against the use of six bighas of an 18-acre tract of land for the development of a food park by ITC Ltd in Amraberia. The land was acquired by the former Left Front government under the 1894 Land Acquisition Act.