The government has also agreed to promote tea tourism to enhance the viability of tea gardens there, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee told reporters after the meeting of the North Bengal Development Council.

The chief minister said the state had already released Rs 20 crore out of its share of Rs 32 crore by September. The remaining Rs 10 crore would come as Central grant, he said.

Bhattacharjee said more focus would be given on agriculture, horticulture, industry and infrastructure.

He said the progress of development programmes was satisfactory and in some cases 80-85 per cent of the work was already complete.

The meeting recognised that certain sectors needed to be promoted depending on the core-competence of North-Bengal.

The government had already identified two tea gardens and another 10 gardens located in the Dooars and Terai would be targeted for tea tourism, Bhattacharjee said.

In North Dinajpur, there was a plan to set up a tannery. The state had also requested Dabur India to take up tomato processing of Haldibari, he said, adding the company had earlier processed pineapple and mango.

The modernisation of the airport in Cooch Behar was also reviewed. The demolition of certain buildings on the runway was yet to be effective.

Meanwhile, Bhattacharjee said the Union government should extend fiscal incentives for North Bengal.