Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) has received a Letter of Award from West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation for the development of deep-sea port at Tajpur, West Bengal on Design, Build, Finance, Operate, and Transfer basis. The West Bengal government has handed over the Letter of Award to Adani Ports. The letter was received by Karan Adani, CEO, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone. The handover of the LoA for the port at Tajpur follows the Bengal Cabinet approval last month for issuing it.
The port will be built near Tajpur in East Midnapur district of West Bengal. It will be developed on a design, build, finance, operate and transfer basis. The port is expected to have a draught of 12.1 m with an 18-km channel. With tidal support of 3.9 m, the port will have a 16-m draught capable of handling a cape-size vessel of 1 lakh DWT.
According to the statement from the state government, the port would entail an investment of Rs 15,000 crore. The related port-led infrastructure development would involve another Rs 10,000 crore, it said. The Mamata Banerjee government has said the project would create 25,000 jobs directly.
As per reports, Adani emerged as the top bidder in an open tender for the port, piping JSW Infrastructure, the only other bidder, by a thin margin in the middle of March this year. However, the State Cabinet cleared the deal and accorded its stamp of approval only on September 19 after legal challenges surrounding APSEZ’s eligibility in public tenders were cleared by the Supreme Court.
