 "Amit Mitra")
The West Bengal government on Friday said it was committed to the Tajpur deep sea port but it has not received any proposal from the Centre so far.
The state finance minister Amit Mitra informed on Friday, on the sidelines of a roadshow on maritime opportunities in West Bengal.
A senior state government official aware of the issue said as things stand now there is no room for the Centre in financial partnership.
Mitra was replying to a question on recent comments of the Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) chairman M T Krishna Babu that the viability of the deep sea port at Sagar Islands is hinging upon another port in Tajpur-Shankarpur in the state.
The KoPT chairman had said that the Ministry of Shipping (MoS) had written to the West Bengal government about its stand on the Tajpur port.
Mitra also hoped that when the state was growing at 12 per cent there was scope for 3-4 more port projects all of which would be viable.
The state government was planning to float request for a proposal in the next two months and select partner over next months for nine berths of the Tajpur port in the first phase. The state government envisages investment to the tune of Rs 5,000 crore in two phases.
Mitra said state government would build the requisite infrastructure to connect the Tajpur port.
Officials from Adani and Essar were present among others at the roadshow.
Meanwhile, the state was planning to come out with a maritime policy and draft policy prepared by Crisil.
Bengal plans optimal utilisation of its 158 km coastline for industrial development, tourism and employment generation from the maritime sector.
