The Hindu Business Line : Silver zone planned near Kolhapur

Hupri town is already famous for its silver jewellery; fine craftsmanship and superior designs being the hallmarks of Hupri jewellery. The town already boasts of some 2,500 silversmiths and another 20,000 craftsmen who are dependent on this trade.

The size of the industry is put at Rs 125 crore and the finished goods is in demand across the country.

"Currently the business is scattered across Hupri as there are concerns about pollution due to overcrowding. The silver zone will offer larger space for the production of ornaments, where traders from all over the country could come and do business in an organised manner," said Mr Shyam Wardhane, Deputy CEO, Mahrashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC).

The `silver zone' as planned, will come up over a 200-acre industrial park at Kagal-Hatkangale, near Hupri town. It will offer a captive area for manufacture and trading of silver jewellery. It is expected that the silver zone will give a quantum jump to the local silver trade.

Over the years Hupri has become congested with no further scope for expansion. Keeping in mind the demands of silversmiths, MIDC has agreed to provide units that will double up as workshop-cum-residential quarters.

The first phase has commenced with development of 75 acres of land already under way. In this phase, MIDC is putting up 285 plots - varying between 300 sq.m. and 1,200 sq.m. in size - and are being leased to the silversmiths for construction of units. MIDC is incurring a cost of Rs 110 per sq.m. for developing the land.

According to Mr Chandrashekhar Naik, President of the local ornament manufacturer association, demand for an exclusive silver zone was made as early as 1983. Now that the project has begun , it may take another five years before it is fully functional, he said.

As only about 10 per cent of the resident silversmiths can be accommodated at first go, the MIDC may need to allocate more land as the demand from the side of silversmiths to relocate to the silver zone gathers momentum.

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