Dec. 20: The gas cracker project may still be deadlocked but there is no dearth of enthusiasm among local entrepreneurs about the wide range of ancillary units that will come up once the project starts functioning at Lepatkata in Digrugarh district.

With this in mind, the organisers of the 7th Jorhat Trade Fair has made pros-pects of sunrise industries in Assam its theme this year. The 12-day fair, organised by the Trivenee Club, will begin at the JDSA ground here on February 1.

Talking to newsmen here today, the president of the organising committee, Zakir Ahmed, said once the gas cracker project starts functioning, there would be ample employment opportunities as well as the possibility of a large number of small ancillary units being set up.

Ahmed said such small supplementary industrial units were called sunrise industries and hence, the theme of the trade fair has been selected as sunrise industries in Assam. “We will focus on the prospects of employment the oil and gas-based industry would offer in Assam in the near future,” Ahmed said, adding the demand for plastic is growing worldwide. It also fetches better profit.

Ahmed and Union minister of state for fertilisers and parliamentary affairs, B.K. Handique, who is also the chief patron of the fair, has said he would invite successful entrepreneurs from other parts of the country who would share tips on how to set up these ancillary units.

This is the first fair to be organised in Upper Assam since 1999.