Waiting for legal opinion on Tajpur port: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee

The West Bengal government is seeking a legal opinion on the Tajpur deep-sea port project awarded to the Adani Group.

 

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday that the Tajpur port project is already happening. “Tendering will probably happen again as there is a dispute.”

 

Later, responding to media queries on whether the contract with Adani was being cancelled and there would be re-tendering, she said, “The chief secretary would be able to comment. We are taking a legal opinion on this; we are waiting for the legal opinion.”

 

A mail was sent to the Adani Group.

 

 

The West Bengal Budget was presented today, and Banerjee’s comments came during a press conference on the Budget that was focused on creating more and more jobs.

 

In November 2023, Banerjee had also told investors at the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS), “The proposed deep-sea port at Tajpur—that is ready, you can participate in the tender. This will attract an investment of about $3 billion, which means Rs 25,000 crore.”

 

Later, the state government clarified that certain clearances were required from the Union government from four departments—the Ministry of Shipping, Home Affairs, Defence and External Affairs. The Ministry of Home Affairs had given a conditional security clearance and made certain observations.

 

Certain clarifications had been sought vis-à-vis the observations, and so the communications are ongoing, the state government had said back in 2023.

 

The deep-sea port project has been hanging fire for some time now. The letter of intent (LoI) for the project had been awarded to Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) on October 12, 2022.

 

The overall size of the project was pegged at Rs 25,000 crore, of which the port would entail an investment of Rs 15,000 crore and the related port-led infrastructure development another Rs 10,000 crore.