Calcutta, Oct. 6: The Centre has turned down Bengal's offer of a minority control in the proposed Tajpur port in East Midnapore, one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects of the Mamata Banerjee government.

The state had recently written to the Union shipping ministry, saying it was ready to part with 26 per cent control of the Rs 4,900-crore venture, which the Bengal government wants to develop with private participation.

The state government plans to opt for an international bidding process in which the participation of top global and domestic infrastructure majors will be invited.

However, the Centre rejected the offer, saying major port minders such as the Calcutta Port Trust (CPT) do not play second fiddle to private firms.

The Bengal government had initially not planned to involve central agencies such as the CPT in the project at Tajpur, located near the popular beach resort of Shankarpur. But it agreed to do so after the Centre threatened to scrap the long-pending Sagar port project citing non-viability because of its proximity to Tajpur.

"It will not be possible for the Centre to build the Sagar port if a similar facility comes up in the private sector nearby. The Sagar port will be viable if the two projects are developed together as complementary to each other. To make that happen, the majority share (in the Tajpur venture) must be held by the same entity," a source in the Union shipping ministry said.

On Tuesday, the Centre announced a grant of Rs 515 crore for the proposed Sagar port but added several riders, the most important of them being majority control of the CPT in the Tajpur project. The state government has also been asked to remove hurdles in the way of building rail and road connectivity for the Sagar port.

The Bengal government maintains that the state can generate enough business to build two ports close to each other and cited the example of Gujarat, where more than a dozen big and small ports dot the coastline.

Bengal government sources said the state's response to the Centre's rejection of a minority role in Tajpur would be decided by chief minister Mamata Banerjee "at an appropriate time".

The Bengal government conceived the Tajpur project because it felt the Centre was dragging its feet on the Sagar port. The implementation of the Sagar plan can be divided into four stages.

First, land reclamation has to be done, for which Rs 515 crore will be required. According to the plan, the joint venture company that will implement the project will do the job.

Second, the port will be built by a private firm, to be chosen through global tendering. The investment is estimated at Rs 1,000 crore.

Third, a road-cum-rail bridge will have to be built over the Muriganga river to connect the Sagar port to the mainland. The National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd has prepared a detailed project report for the bridge, which will cost Rs 1,822 crore.

Four, the laying of a rail network. The Indian Railways had initially put the cost at Rs 8,000 crore. The Bengal government feels the Sagar port will not be viable if such a big investment is made.

Shipping industry experts believe Tajpur is a much better location for a greenfield port than Sagar.

Tajpur has a 12-metre draught, the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of a ship's hull. The draught at Sagar is 9 metres. Tajpur will be able to handle ships carrying 60,000 tonnes of cargo, while Sagar can at best take in 45,000-tonne ships.

Around Rs 150 crore will be required to build a road network for the Tajpur port, significantly less than the amount needed for the Sagar facility. The cost of a railway network has not yet been calculated but it will be less than that at Sagar because no bridge is needed to be built at Tajpur.

Sources in the shipping industry said that among all existing and proposed ports in Bengal, Tajpur was the closest to the 10 metre-plus natural draught that is ideal for a port.

"It will always be more viable to build a port on the western side of the Hooghly estuary because of the area's proximity to the hinterland and rail-road connectivity," a shipping industry veteran said.

The global trend in the maritime sector suggests a gradual shift towards bigger ships to obtain economy of scale. The ports in Bengal, however, have drifted away from the trend because of the silt-choked shipping channels of the Hooghly, prompting the government to scout for areas with a deeper draught.

A section of Bengal officials accused the Centre of trying to scuttle the state government's plan because Tajpur is a better location than Sagar and the CPT allegedly does not want a competing private port in the vicinity of Haldia.