The construction of the proposed auto component park in West Bengal is likely to begin next year, a senior state government official said here on November 11.

"It will take at least eight to ten months to start construction of the auto park. Right now we are looking at land procurement for the auto and engineering cluster," West Bengal Industrial Infrastructure Development Corp (WBIIDC) chief executive Sumanta Chaudhuri told reporters.

"Right now we're looking at different alternatives. Nothing has been finalised so far," he said, when asked if the government has already tied up with any anchor investor for the project. "We may not have any anchor investor for the project as it would be basically a component-based automobile park. We'll consider it later if necessary," Chaudhuri added, declining to divulge any further details about the project.

"This is not the right forum to discuss these things." WBIIDC and Bengal Srei Infrastructure Development have formed a 50:50 joint venture to set up the integrated auto park over 500 acres at Guptamani near Kharagpur. It will also house an auto special economic zone (SEZ) over 250 acres.

"The global recession has hit the automobile sector so hard that it would still require at least one-and-a-half years to settle down properly. So we're also progressing slowly," Chaudhuri said. "Once the land has been procured, we will start construction of the project."

Talking about the prospects of the auto industry in West Bengal, Chaudhuri said the eastern and northeastern region could emerge as a gateway to the entire Southeast Asia as far as automobile industry is concerned. Meanwhile, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers brought out a vision document on the automobile sector in West Bengal Wednesday.