Calcutta, Aug. 22: In what appeared to be a scaling down of plans, the government today said the proposed “mega chemical hub” will come up on around 4,000 acres in Haldia.

“There is nothing new in the project. It’s an extension of the existing petrochemical industry in Haldia. We have 6,000 acres in Haldia where Haldia Petrochemicals and Mitsubishi are already operating. We have another 4,000 acres, where IOC will set up a mother plant,” he said.

The chief minister will convene an all-party meeting on September 3 to discuss a possible site for the hub. “All the parties would be given a choice of two or three sites,” he said, refusing to elaborate on them.

The government had earlier said the hub would be part of a 62,500-acre Petroleum Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region. It was resized to 12,500 acres, but the government was hard pressed to find a suitable site after Nandigram erupted.

The Salim Group had ag-reed to develop infrastructure for the 12,500-acre hub. It was also supposed to build a bridge connecting Raichak with Kukrahati — 14km from the Haldia industrial hub — and a Barasat-Raichak expressway.

Salim collaborator Prasun Mukherjee declined comment on today’s development. “The government will say whatever it has to and we will stand by our statement that the work will commence as soon as the government is ready with the land,” he said.

The chief minister said there were around 4,000 acres of fallow government land near the Haldia Petrochem and Mitsubishi plants. “He told us the mother refinery can be built on 3,500 acres,” said a member of the cabinet core committee.

Asked if the chemical hub tag will suit the 4,000-acre site, Bhattacharjee said: “Call it what you like, but it denotes a powerful refinery with some downstream units. The concept is encapsulated in 10,000 acres.”

“Buddhababu has virtually watered down the project by calling it a mere extension of the existing hub. Today, he focused on the addition of an IOC refinery and lowered the land requirement, pre-empting another land war,” a minister said.

According to the chief minister’s core committee colleagues, he was expected to speak to the Opposition with a “new approach”.

The cabinet today gave the nod to the acquisition of around 12,000 acres in Purulia and Burdwan and investment of over Rs 38,000 crore.

Deep-sea port study

The Union shipping ministry has picked a consultant to study the feasibility of the deep-sea port off Sagar Island and prepare a detailed project report, Bhattacharjee said.

The consultant, whom he did not name, was chosen from among 16 shortlisted following a global call for expressions of interest.