WEST BENGAL: Rejecting the erstwhile Left Front government’s proposal to develop a port near Rasulpur, the Mamata Banerjee government has come up with a new proposal to develop a minor port between Tajpur and Sankarpur – a three-kilometre stretch near Digha. Finance minister Amit Mitra said the new port would not only be cost effective but would also be better than the previous one in many aspects.
Speaking to the media in the assembly, Mitra said, “We had asked a national-level company, Crisil, to make a feasibility study and identify a site for the port. The company, after an extensive survey, has come up with its report. We will send the report to the cabinet for approval and after getting a nod we will go for a competitive bidding. Once the bidding process is over, work can be started for the new port.”
According to the minister, the earlier site in Rasulpur had a dredging area of 93 km. “We needed to develop a canal from the sea to the port. But in case of the new one, the dredging area will be only 18.10 km. Secondly, in Rasulpur, the government had to acquire 1500 acres densely populated land and think of the residents’ rehabilitation. But here, we won’t have to acquire any land, since the new port will come up on reclaimed land following desiltation. The government will only have to build roads and create railway links, which is likely to entail a cost of Rs 150 crore. The rest will be done by the company,” Mitra added.
“The project cost, which was earlier Rs 8000 crore, has come down to Rs 4231 core – nearly half the amount,” Mitra added. Attacking the Left Front government on “lack of transparency”, Mitra said, “The letter of intent was given to a company without any bidding. We cancelled the deal and called for fresh bidding. The company went to court, which gave a judgment in our favour.”
Mitra also said, “This will be a minor port with a draught of 12 metres where ships weighing 6000 parcel size will be able to anchor. This will be even better than the one in Haldia since there will be as with separate berths for coal, iron ore, limestone and container. Another port will come up in Sagar. Apart from that, there’s also a proposal to develop another port and a ship manufacturing unit there is another proposed port at Kulpi.” and a ship manufacturing unit there”.
When asked whether so many ports are needed, Mitra said, “Why not? If a state can have 12 ports why can’t we? West Bengal is an important state and form here we can not only supply to North-East and Bangladesh but also to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh”.
