The Bengal government has restarted the process to find a private partner to develop Tajpur port in East Midnapore after scrapping the earlier attempt that picked Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones (APSEZ) as the successful bidder.

West Bengal Maritime Board floated the tender for the deep sea port on Monday, indicating that a new operator is expected to be finalised in the first week of March.

The government said 1,000 acres of encumbrance free land is available for port led development and industrial park at the site. The state is willing to give the successful party a 99-year lease concession.

The prospective operators are being assured of coming up with flexibility of design and setting tariff (port related user charge). The state has offered to provide rail and road linkage to the port to facilitate movement of cargo.

The private operator is expected to plough in investment to build the port on design, build, finance, operate and transfer basis.

The tender restart comes days before the state is going to hold a mini investor summit later this month. If the tender process follows the timeline charted out today, a new entity will be picked before Bengal goes for the crucial Assembly poll next year.

Tajpur was one of the vaunted infrastructure/industry projects conceptualised by the Mamata Banerjee government in its 15-year rule. The state grew cold feet on Adani after the group was engulfed in the Hindenburg scandal. Earlier JSW Group, led by Sajjan Jindal, had shown interest in the project.