Dhaniakhali (Hooghly), Oct. 6: Union minister of state for food processing Subodh Kant Sahay today backed chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s industrialisation drive in Bengal.

“What Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and his government are doing about industrialisation is nothing short of pioneering in this country,” Sahay said at a function at Dhaniakhali in Hooghly.

Bhattacharjee today inaugurated a potato flakes plant, while Sahay laid the foundation stone for a meat processing unit. Both the projects belong to Pailan Group.

Bhattacharjee said the potato flakes manufacturing plant would create around 1,500 jobs, while the meat processing unit would employ around 500 initially.

Pailan Group has invested Rs 50 crore in the potato plant, which will produce 3,600 tonnes of flakes annually. The meat processing unit will be set up in three phases and around Rs 34 crore will be invested initially.