Bengal to be junior partner in Tajpur port project

After striking a defiant posture, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has climbed down from her stand to build a new port at Tajpur in the State’s West Midnapore district with private funds.

Tajpur will now be developed as a major port by Bhor Sagar Port Ltd, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) originally formed by the Central government-owned Kolkata Port Trust and the State government as a 74:26 joint venture to build a new major port at Sagar Island.

Mamata Banerjee’s insistence on building Tajpur as a State government project had nixed the development of the Sagar Island port project by the Central government over viability concerns. Sagar Island and Tajpur are located just 50-60 km apart.

West Bengal’s plan was to build Tajpur as a private port on the lines of Mundra, Pipavav, Krishnapatnam, Kattupalli, Dhamra, Karaikal and Gangavaram, among others, wherein a private firm will be awarded the concession to build and operate the new port for 30-50 years through a public auction.

Given the viability concerns, Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari had suggested that it be allowed to spearhead the Tajpur port project as a major port with Kolkata Port Trust holding a 74 per cent stake. But, the suggestion was turned down by the State government.

Last week, Bhor Sagar Port Ltd sought bids from consulting firms to write a techno-economic feasibility report (TEFR), detailed project report (DPR), environment impact assessment and environment management plan (EIA & EMP) as well as to prepare bid documents for developing a deep-sea port at Tajpur.

“Tajpur port will now be developed by the same SPV set up for building the Sagar Island port project in which Kolkata Port Trust has a 74 per cent stake. This means, Tajpur will be developed as a major port. The West Bengal government has now settled for the role of a junior partner in the Tajpur port project,” a shipping ministry official said.

This will necessitate rewriting the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the central and the state government to develop the Sagar Island project and this needs to be approved by the competent authorities, the ministry official said.

“Industries are located on the West Bank of the Hooghly river. So, all the cargo needs to cross the Hooghly river which is a challenge with Sagar Island port due to lack of connectivity. It requires some ₹12,000 crore to build back-up infrastructure such as road, bridge and rail lines to evacuate cargo from Sagar Port. Whereas, the nearest national highway is just 5 km away from Tajpur,” the ministry official said.

Fears of a privately-run Tajpur port weaning away cargo from Haldia Dock also convinced the Shipping Ministry to push its case to develop the new port, preferring it over the Sagar Island project.

A port industry executive said that the Tajpur port, when developed, will take away the entire cargo of coal and minerals of Haldia Dock. “Haldia is infested with mafia of stevedoring and shore handling firms. If a fully mechanised port comes up at Tajpur, Haldia will be history,” he said, asking not to be named.

In the year ended March 2017, Kolkata Port Trust handled 50.314 million tonnes (mt) of cargo of which Haldia Dock Complex handled 34.141 mt.

Tajpur will now be developed as a landlord port, a globally followed model for developing ports in which the basic infrastructure such as break water and dredging will be funded by the government while private firms will set up the super-structure such as berths/terminals and erect equipment to handle cargo. In turn, the private firms will share their annual revenue with the landlord port authority discovered through a tender.

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