Kolkata: Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) has not received any official communication from the West Bengal government regarding the fate of the Tajpur deep sea port project it had won the bid for, ThePrint has learnt. This comes even as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced Tuesday that the tender for the project was open for bidding again.
The state government’s industries minister, however, said that the government would soon release a statement making its position clear.
In September 2022, the APSEZ won the bid for the Tajpur project and was even awarded a Letter of Intent from the West Bengal government. However, something seems to have gone awry along the way, evident from the CM’s announcement at the Bengal Global Business summit Tuesday.
Seated on the dais were her senior administrative officials, ministers, advisers, industrialists and dignitaries from across the globe. But there was no representative from the Adani Group.
“We are aware of the media reports but we have not given any statement to the press so far because we have not received any official communication from the government of West Bengal with regards to Tajpur Port,” a senior APSEZ official told ThePrint on the condition of anonymity. The official added that the company was still awaiting the Letter of Award so it could begin work on the project.
Touted as one of the biggest investment projects in West Bengal since the Trinamool government came to power in 2011, the Tajpur deep sea port was to be set up to generate employment, connect the state with Southeast Asia, and, more importantly, redeem the state government in the face of allegations that it had failed to bring in any major industry in the state since the Tata Nano debacle.
“At this point, we will not say anything but we will soon release a detailed statement on behalf of the government,” West Bengal industries minister Dr Shashi Panja told ThePrint Friday on the sidelines of the assembly’s winter session.
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Bengal’s 1st deep sea port
A dream project for three-time CM Mamata, Tajpur is set to be Bengal’s first deep sea port and greenfield port in almost half a century. A greenfield project is one in which construction happens on unused land, where there is no need to remodel or demolish an existing structure.
The state government estimated the cost of the project at Rs 25,000 crore, including an investment of Rs 10,000 crore for infrastructure development.
According to the Expression of Interest (EOI) issued by the West Bengal Maritime Board on 19 February, 2021, the state government expected an increase in demand for cargo handling and looking at the limitations faced by the existing ports in the state in Kolkata and Haldia, sought to develop a new deep sea port in Purba Medinipur district near Kolkata, connected to the mineral belt of Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.
The Industry, Commerce and Enterprise department then floated a Request for Proposal (RFP) on 18 October, 2021, for the development of the Tajpur Port on ‘design, build, operate and transform model’.
It said the state government would provide 1,000 acres of encumbrance free land, road connectivity with nearest highway, rail link and a concession period of 99 years.
Adani Group chairperson Gautam Adani even met the chief minister at the state secretariat in Kolkata in December 2021 and accepted the invitation to be a part of the April 2022 business summit. Mamata’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee was also present at the hour-long meeting.
At a cabinet meeting held on 19 September 2022, the state government approved the proposal to issue Letter of Intent (LOI) to APSEZ, the highest bidder (H-1) and called it a “historic moment”.
The LOI was handed over to Gautam Adani’s son and APSEZ CEO Karan Adani in October 2022 at the state government’s ‘bijoya sammalani’ event — an annual event to celebrate the culmination of Durga Puja. This also happened to be the last time the Adanis were spotted in the city.
TMC vs Adani
While the state government was doing business with the Adani Group, the Trinamool Congress was amplifying in Parliament the Hindenburg report which made stock manipulation and accounting fraud allegations against the business group.
TMC MP Mahua Moitra led the charge in the Lok Sabha, questioning not just the Centre but also market regulator SEBI. Moitra is currently being examined by a parliamentary panel in the alleged cash-for-questions scam. Moitra is accused of taking bribes to ask questions against Adani in Parliament.
The Adani Group then issued a statement 16 October, saying, “Some groups and individuals have been working overtime to harm our name, goodwill and market standing.”
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)