Destination industry is the new buzzword on the southern fringes of the city. In a bid to boost the small-scale industry and entrepreneurship in the areas lying south of the city and beyond, an industrial trade fair, on the lines of the one held late last year on the Maidan, will be organised at Baruipur, in South 24-Parganas, from February 1 to 8.

The fair, Shilpa Banijya Mela, is organised by the Cottage and Small-Scale Industries Association, South 24-Parganas, with the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Amritalal College and Baruipur Shilpa Bandhu, a one-window organisation to help set up small-scale industry in the area. With chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee scheduled to inaugurate the fair on February 1, the organisers are pinning much hope on its success, which they feel will provide the much-needed exposure to the unorganised small-scale sector in the district.

The fair, at Rabindra Bhavan and its adjacent grounds in Baruipur, will have 72 stalls. There will be six 1,000-sq-ft halls for industrial units and four 1,400-sq- ft halls that will be given free to makers of surgical instruments and television sets, officials said.

“Some major public and private-sector organisations, like Haldia Petrochemicals, Mitsubishi and Peerless, have agreed to take part in the fair,” said Sujan Chakraborty, former CPM legislator from Baruipur and president of Shilpa Bandhu. “The cluster of industries in the district, like incense stick, ceramic, food processing, floriculture and surgical instruments, will get an opportunity to display their wares,” Chakraborty said on Sunday.

The thrust of the fair will be food processing, which is a growing sector in the district, the organisers said. “The land here is very fertile and the atmosphere conducive for the food processing industry. So, we will try to attract major industries to this sector,” said Amal Guha, joint convener of Shilpa Banijya Mela.

“South 24-Parganas is fast becoming an industrial hub and trade units want to explore the opportunities here,” an organiser said. The fair will provide them the opportunity. The location of the district, its vicinity to Haldia and Calcutta, is attracting industry, he said.

The fair will also provide a platform for small traders to interact among themselves. According to the organisers, 60 per cent of the stalls will showcase the small-scale traders.