Kolkata: The state’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) department is saddled with loss-making outlets, product designs that are stuck in time warp and employees who find no enthusiasm in showing products to potential customers. But this situation will soon change once the department ties up with Anjan Chatterjee’s Speciality Group that has restaurants like Mainland China and Oh! Calcutta under its banner.

Last week, there were talks between Chatterjee and MSME Minister Manas Bhuniya at Writers’ Buildings to work out plans for the venture. Sources said the agreement will be inked very soon.

“We had talks with Anjan Chatterjee and both of us are keen on making this happen. It will help market the Bengal products well and help in better branding of the products. Overall, it will breathe new life to handicrafts of Bengal,” he said.

The idea behind the tie-up is not only to strike a chord with a group (read Specialty Group) that pampers its customers to the hilt, but to also propagate brand Bangaliana since Chatterjee is known to be the flagbearer of Bengal all over the world.

The MSME is moulding itself as Bencraft – a corporation to promote handloom and handicraft products of the state. From dokra to tant, shola to terracotta, baluchari to bamboo, there is a rich tradition of handloom and handicraft in Bengal. What it lacks are the marketing brains. and dreaming it big.

If the tie-up is successful, things may be delightfully different. So soon it may not be far from now when you may be able to pick up Oh! Calcutta delicacies like Nawabi Dum Biryani, Kosha Mangsho, Luchi and Chingri’r cutlet from Tantuja showrooms. Or Oh! Calcutta restaurants may have products like dokra showpieces, Murshidabad silk scarves, bamboo earrings or woodcrafts under the Bencraft brandname.

The government is also roping in actress Rituparna Sengupta to be the brand ambassador for tant and has asked for suggestions from designer Agnimitra Paul on how to improve the textile sector.

It’s perhaps one of the biggest and most promising tie-ups for Bengal in recent times. Bengal’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) is tying up with Anjan Chatterjee’s Speciality group – that has brand names as big as Mainland China and Oh! Calcutta among other restaurants – spread all over the country.

The MSME is saddled with loss making outlets, employees who find no enthusiasm in showing the products to potential customers, and designs in quality products that are stuck in time warp.

And the idea is to strike the right chord with a group that is not only a big name but also has waiters and managers in their restaurants who pamper their customers to the hilt.

The outcome of the mix of these two could mean as subtle and delicate as the taste and feel of the chhana aam kasundi paturi or the Bekti gandhoraj if you please! The idea is the branding of Bangaliana – and Chatterjee is already known to be carrying the flag of Bengal and Bangaliana all over the world.

Now things may be delightfully different if things go according to plan. There were talks between Chatterjee and MSME minister, Manas Bhuniya at Writers’ Buildings last week to work out plans for a grand tie-up. Sources said the agreement will be inked very soon.

So it may not be far from now when you may see some of the Tantuja showrooms with snacketeria from where it would be possible to pick up Oh! Calcutta delicacies like Nawabi Dum Biryani, Kosha Mangsho, Luchi, Chingri’r cutlet, Murshidabadi murgi fry, Fish fry, Dhakai fish tikka and so on. Or that Oh! Calcutta restaurants may have products like dokra showpieces, murshidabad silk scarves, bamboo earrings or woodcrafts under the Bencraft brandname.

Tantuja has a hundred exclusive retail outlets in Bengal – its head office is at Tantuja Bhawan in Salt Lake’s DD block, near City Centre. Most of its outlets are sprawling spaces and in hugely advantageous locations like Park Street, Lindsay Street, Gariahat, Dhakuria, Sealdah, Shyambazar, Ultadanga, and even at Howrah Maidan, Uttarpara, Shyamnagar and so on.

Oh! Calcutta branches on the other hand are at Tardeo and Andheri in Mumbai, Elgin Road and Silver Spring in Kolkata, Nehru Place in New Delhi, St. Marks Road in Bangalore, Dhole Patil Road in Pune (at City Point), and one even at Banani in Dhaka.

There are discussions on how many of one’s spaces and products would be used by the other. The details of are currently being worked out, said minister Manas Bhuniya. “We had talks with Anjan Chatterjee and both of us are keen on making this happen. It will help market the Bengal products well and help in better branding of the products as well. Overall, it will breathe new life to handicrafts of Bengal,” he said.

Source: Times of India