After visits by the CRPF and CISF, a delegation from the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) has now inspected the premises of the closed Hindustan Cables Limited (HCL) unit at Rupnarayanpur in West Burdwan.
The inspection was conducted by a team from the 63rd Battalion based in Barasat, led by commandant Rajesh Kumar Kuj, and was arranged by the ministry of home affairs (MHA).
Advertisement
Hindustan Cables, a central public sector undertaking (CPSU), formerly under the ministry of heavy industries, was shut down in 2017, and all its employees were offered voluntary retirement.
In the past two months, deputy inspector general (DIG)-rank officers from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), New Delhi, and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), ISP Burnpur unit, have also visited and surveyed the HCL campus, which includes land, factory premises, township, and associated infrastructure.
During the SSB visit, a closed-door meeting was held between the delegation and local HCL official R N Ojha.
Sources indicate that the MHA is assessing potential sites across the country as part of an expansion and modernisation initiative for its paramilitary forces. Requirements include land for commando training, new battalion headquarters, staff and family accommodation, parade grounds, firing ranges, hospitals, and schools.
Rupnarayanpur is strategically positioned near national highway 19 (linking New Delhi and Kolkata), the Grand Chord line of Eastern Railway, and close to Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport in Andal and Arjan Singh Airport in Panagarh—making it ideal for emergency mobility by road, rail, or air.
The CRPF already operates a group centre in Durgapur, West Burdwan, which includes the office of the deputy inspector general (DIGP), CRPF Durgapur, and a Kendriya Vidyalaya (central school) for CRPF personnel families. This falls under the West Bengal Sector of the CRPF.
HCL’s Rupnarayanpur campus comprises a land bank of 947.23 acres. Given the frequency of inspections by multiple paramilitary forces, it appears the MHA is seriously considering acquisition of the land, pending inter-ministerial transfer from the ministry of heavy industries.
Bidhan Upadhyay, Barabani MLA and mayor of Asansol Municipal Corporation, said, “Rupnarayanpur, once a thriving hub manufacturing jelly-filled cables for BSNL, has become a ghost town since HCL’s closure.”