The Bengal government will start mining basalt on 326 acres of land at the proposed Deocha-Pachami coal mine in Birbhum district later this week.

The commencement of the work on the chief minister's pet project coincides with the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) that will start on Wednesday. The state government is all set to showcase the planned commencement of the project at the BGBS to send a message to the investors attending the two-day event.

“Environmental and all other required clearances have been obtained. The agency, selected through a national tender, has already set up the required infrastructure for mining basalt. It is expected that the agency will start the mining job this week,” said a senior state government official.

Mining basalt is considered the first major step towards making the coal mine functional as the coal reserve at Deocha-Pachami lies under a thick layer of basalt. In the area, where the first phase of work will be carried out, the thickness of basalt is between 100 meters and 350 meters.

“As the thickness of the basalt in this part of the project area is manageable, open-cast coal mining has been planned. It could take over a year to remove the basalt cover and the coal mining to begin,” said a source.

Initially, the state government had plans to start mining basalt on 376 acres of the project area. But later it was found that around 50 acres of land was yet to be purchased by the state government.

“This is why the state will start the project on 326 acres. Once the process to procure 50 acres of land is completed within the next six months, basalt mining will be taken up in the entire area,” said another official.

Sources said the agency engaged to mine the rock would share 71.5 per cent of revenue with the state government.

“It is expected that the state can earn a revenue of about ₹5,000 crore from basalt to be lifted from the area as its quality is premium and demand high. It is used in the construction of buildings and roads across the country,” said a senior official.

A senior bureaucrat said the Bengal government was set to showcase the commencement of the basalt mining at Deocha-Pachami to send a message to investors during the BGBS. The state wants to draw some big investments since Bengal is looking to generate employment ahead of the 2026 polls.

“The state is eyeing to generate jobs ahead of the polls as the ruling establishment was facing questions over lack of employment opportunities in the state. The state can send a message to the youths before polls if it can attract big investments,” said a bureaucrat.

Another official said the state government was depending heavily on the Deocha-Pachami coal mine as two other projects — a deep-sea port in East Midnapore's Tajpur and industrial corridors from Dankuni — have so far proved to be non-starters.