| The first project is a proposal by the Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) to invest Rs 8,871 crore to re-open Kulti Iron Works in Burdwan district, north-west of Kolkata. The plant was closed due to heavy losses, under the National Democratic Alliance government. |
| The announcement would have been made in Parliament today, had it not been adjourned. |
| "I told Basudeb Babu (Basudeb Acharia, CPI(M) leader in the Lok Sabha) I am ready to make the announcement today. But sadly, the Lok Sabha was not allowed to function. We took the decision nearly six months ago but had decided to announce it today," said Minister for Steel Ramvilas Paswan. |
| The initial proposal was to hand over the Kulti plant to private entrepreneurs but the Left consistently demanded that it be taken over by SAIL, to which the government has agreed. |
| Meanwhile, Acharia said Railway Minister Lalu Prasad had announced an overnight express train connecting West Bengal's far-flung district headquarters of Balurghat with Kolkata, fulfilling an 18-month-old demand. |
| West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya's dream project of a chemical hub in West Bengal is also slated for a push from the Centre. |
| After the violence in Nandigram, where the original hub was to be located, the state had held back the detailed project report to be sent to the Centre indicating where it will provide land for an alternative location. |
| With the state administration more or less zeroing in on nearby Haldia, this was likely to be cleared, ministry of chemicals sources said. Bhattacharya is to meet the prime minister for dinner tomorrow. |
| The announcement of long-pending projects is making the Left wonder if this is a tactic by the Centre to win over the Left Front. Union ministers, however, say the projects had been sanctioned earlier and were merely announced today. |
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