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The West Bengal government is expecting an investment of Rs 16,000 crore, in the proposed deep sea port project at Tajpur, in East Midnapore district.
According to Amit Mitra, state Finance and Commerce & Industry Minister, the government is expected to float a request for proposal or an expression of interest within the next two months.
Work on the first phase is expected to start by January next year.
The port will be located at a 3km stretch between Tajpur and Shankarpur in the East Midnapore district and will have nine berths. A total of 10,000 jobs (directly) will be created.
“The first phase will entail an investment of Rs 10,000 crore and six berths. The second phase will see an investment of Rs 6,000 crore and three berths. Apart from creating a direct employment for 10,000 people; indirect employment generation will be around 30,000-odd,” Mitra told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar on ‘Opportunities on Maritime Sector in West Bengal’ here in the city.
The port is expected to come up on a P-P-P basis, he did not name companies that had envisaged interest in it. Moreover, there will be no land acquisition for setting up the port, that will have an 18.5 km long channel for ships
The state government will also develop the surrounding infrastructure that include road connectivity to the nearest National Highway.
Pitching Tajpur as a viable destination, Mitra said the proposed site was located with 23 kms of Contai (a major junction) and within 10 kms from other nearby smaller rail stations.
On viability of Sagar Port
Interestingly, the Minster did not clear the air on whether both Sagar and Tajpur ports will be viable at the same time.
Apparently, the KoPT chairman has pointed out the viability of the Rs 12,000 crore Sagar port will depends on the proposed Tajpur port.
“It is too early to comment on viability,” Mitra said.
On further prodding, Mitra gave an example of Korea and how it had created additional power generation capacities for future. Hence, developing additional infrastructure was a plan to be future-ready.
“Considering the current GDP growth rate of the state, we can have three ports in a 10 year period. But this is too futuristic,” he added.
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