Kolkata, Feb 12 (IANS): It is high time Bengal's sweet making is given industry status as the innovative spins given to the humble cottage cheese desserts have already won the hearts of connoisseurs all over the world, a panel of well-known personalities of Kolkata said on Monday.

"Mishti (sweets) is no more a food item. This is an industry. These businessmen should be given the grade of an industry," veteran stockbroker-cum-investment banker Utsav Parekh said during a book launch.

He said the status of sweetmakers must change from that of a shopkeeper to an industrialist.

Former chief executive of Apollo Gleneagles Hospital Rupali Basu said there should be a separate council for sweet-making formed through business chambers.

"I don't mind running an extra half an hour or do cycling for the sake of mishti," former Test cricketer Deep Dasgupta said.

Industrialist Sanjiv Goenka and designer Agnimitra Paul also shared their love for the savoury delicacies.

The book titled "Mishti Magic- O Balaram Mullicker Galpo (Mishti Magic and the Story of Balaram Mullick)" talks about the 134-year-old legacy of the confectioner Balaram Mullick and Radharaman Mullick. The first outlet of the sweetmaker was established in Kolkata (then Calcutta) in 1885, the same year the Congress was born.

"I wanted to share our journey and shared the recipes of the various sweets to make them immortal. Also, I want the sweetmakers to become as popular as chefs and this way I feel we can be one step ahead in the competition," said Sudip Mullick, who has co-authored the book with Boria Majumdar.

There are around one lakh sweet shops in the city.