Krishnagar, Jan. 31: The Bengal government has started the process of setting up a sweets hub in Nadia where traditional delicacies from across the state will be available.

District officials said chief minister Mamata Banerjee had planned the Nadia sweets hub along with the one in Burdwan.

"The proposed sweets hub in Nadia has been named Sar Tirtha by the chief minister and two bighas has been earmarked for the project in Krishnagar town near NH34. The entire plan was conceived by the chief minister a few months ago," a district official said.

Nadia district magistrate Sumit Gupta said the project would cost around Rs 2 crore.

"We have submitted the project report to the micro and small scale enterprises department. We are hopeful of getting the funds sanctioned soon. Our target is to complete the project at the earliest," Gupta said.

Swapan Gupta, the minister of state for micro and small scale enterprises, said: "We will give the necessary approvals for the project. It will be completed soon."

According to some district officials, the project was likely to be completed by Durga Puja this year.

The other sweets hub conceived by the chief minister in Burdwan could not be built as planned originally in Alisha village after around 65 families cited the Singur verdict and staged a protest on September 1 last year demanding the return of their land acquired by the Left government in 2007.

The mishti hub had to be relocated to a government plot measuring a little over an acre close to Alisha. Mamata is expected to inaugurate the mishti hub in Burdwan in the middle of March.

In Nadia, the proposed sweets hub would include manufacturing, packaging and selling units.

Apart from sarpuria and sarbhaja, two popular delicacies of Nadia, sweets such as darbesh, khirpuli, kesharibhog, gokul pithey, aam sandesh, khirer singara and chhana bhapa will also be sold at Sar Tirtha.

"Shops and workshops will be offered to interested sweet traders in the district through tender," the district magistrate said.

"The hub will also have special enclosures for tourists and travellers on NH34 so that they can take a break from their journey and purchase and eat sweets. Our objective is to deliver sweets to travellers who generally avoid entering Krishnagar town because of time constraints and traffic congestion," he added.

Tapas Das, the secretary of the Nadia District Sweets Manufacturers' Welfare Association, said: "We welcome the initiative of the chief minister. The hub will definitely provide a fillip to the sale and revival of the old and traditional sweets of Nadia and froom other parts of the state. We hope this hub will also create job opportunities for youths."