Kolkata: Ford Motors Co is heading towards West Bengal where it plans to invest up to Rs823 crore in three projects at Mayapur in the state that hold potential for creating 15,000 jobs and three-million tourist visitors.

The projects will be executed by Ford company ABF International which is headed by Alfred Brush Ford, descendent of US automobile pioneer and the Ford founder, Henry Ford.

At a presentation on the projects, ABF director John Robert Sims said "The projects would create 15,000 jobs directly and indirectly and we also expect three million tourists to visit annually."

The projects envisage setting up of a village industries park, a tourist hospitality complex and a Vedic Planetarium at Mayapur, home to the global headquarters of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).

ABF International will invest Rs283 crore initially through the foreign direct investments route, and the company expects double the amount of investment through indirect investments.

According to Sims, the company has formed three separate bodies for the stand-alone projects. The Industrial Park project will be under the Mayapur Village Industries Park Pvt Ltd, while Mayapur Tourism Development Pvt Ltd will take up the tourism project. Mayapur Project Society, a charitable body will set up the Vedic Planetarium.

The total land required for the projects is about 60 acres. The company is acquiring the land as and when it is available and the project is expected to be operational by 2009.