kolkatathe mamata banerjee government has traced nearly 20000 acres of surplus and unused land held by sick industrial units the finding by consulting major pwc which has been engaged by the new government to create the maiden land database comes a week ahead of the bengal leads summit in haldia the report of the first phase of the detailed study is being seen as a boost for the sagging morale of the trinamoolled dispensation which is struggling to create a proindustry image if not anything else it will give the government something to talk about during the second edition of the state industrial summit starting january 15 pwc was engaged in the study after chief minister mamata banerjee learnt that sick industrial units were sitting on large tracts of unused land mamata in keeping with her handsoff land policy has been talking of surplus land almost in every meeting she has had with industrialists now she will have the proof in the form of the report submitted by pwc the first phase of the study on surplus or idle land held by sick closed or weak public sector undertakings psu has accessed the exact quantum of land which could be unblocked by the state government for reuse in consultation with the centre the study takes into consideration 337 sick psus compiling data under two categories surplus and idle the erstwhile left front government had tried to do something similar but failed as webcon which was assigned for the job in 2004 came up with an incomplete report accoding to the webcon report the total land held by sick weak or closed units was 4107854 acres including 1711733 acres of freehold 2295571 acres of leased and 55 acres of rented plots inside 347 sick industrial units the most important aspect for industrialisation which is data of surplus or idle land was not available the webcon data also included 1155264 acres in jalpaiguri and 808297 acres in darjeeling most of these were sick or closed tea gardens officials said the pwcs finding would be the first comprehensive database needed for wooing investors in bengal according to the study the 20000odd acres available within sick industrial units are ready plots many of these are more or less 100 acres the minimum required to set up a production unit although the state industrial reconstruction ir department officials have convened a meeting with pwc along with the land and land records surveys directorate to find out the current status of these plots the government is well aware that most of the surplus land was likely to be locked in litigations or encroached in that case the government would act as a facilitator seeking investors who were willing to pay off the dues to secured creditors like banks or financial institutions wbidc the nodal agency to promote industry in the state will soon offer the list of psus with surplus land to investors officials apprehend that no more than 1000 acres of land in