Calcutta, Aug. 4: The Centre could scrap a proposal to build the long-awaited deepwater port at Sagar Island over lack of viability if the Bengal government goes ahead with its plan of developing a port near Digha.
The Union shipping ministry has written to chief secretary Basudeb Banerjee seeking the Bengal government's opinion on the matter. The Centre believes that building two ports close to each other will not be financially viable.
The Sagar port has been in the works for more than 15 years to supplement operations at Calcutta and Haldia, which cannot handle big ships because of the shallow draught of the Hooghly river. Draught is the depth of water needed to float a ship.
As the estimated cost of the Sagar port, especially that of ferrying cargo through a rail or road bridge from the island to the mainland, escalated and held up implementation, the Mamata Banerjee government selected a location between Tajpur and Shankarpur near Digha in East Midnapore to build a port.
The Union shipping ministry wants the Calcutta Port Trust (CPT), which manages the Calcutta and Haldia harbours, to be made a stakeholder if the state builds the Tajpur port. The ministry wanted a similar model in the case of the proposed Sagar port as well.
"We are aware that the state is planning to build a port. If it goes ahead with the project, the proposed Sagar port will become unviable. The state's plan could also adversely impact the existing ports unless there is coordination between them. So it will be prudent if the CPT becomes a stakeholder in the Tajpur project," a CPT official said.
The matter was discussed at a recent meeting chaired by the chief secretary at Nabanna, where officials from several departments and the CPT were present. The chief minister will take the final decision.
State officials said the implementation of the Sagar plan could face at least four hurdles. Reclamation of land will cost Rs 515 crore. The state and the Centre plan to get the job done by the joint venture company that will be selected through a global tender to build the port on reclaimed land. The planned investment for this core infrastructure-building is Rs 1,000 crore.
A huge investment will be required to ferry cargo from the island to the mainland. The Centre dropped a plan to build an underwater tunnel and instead came up with the idea of constructing a rail-road bride over the Muriganga, an offshoot of the Hooghly, at a cost of Rs 2,500 crore.
The railways have estimated that Rs 8,000 crore will be required to connect the port with the existing network, the cost including spending on land acquisition, electrification and laying double lines.
"It does not appear to be a feasible project as Rs 10,000 crore will be needed to connect the port with roads and railway tracks. The development of the port will require another Rs 1,500 crore," a Bengal official present at the meeting said.
"According to the plan, the Centre is supposed to approach the multilateral agency, Jaica, for a soft loan to develop the port, where the state has a stake of 26 per cent. But the huge investment on developing infrastructure will not interest any funding agency. This is the reason why the project has hardly made any progress," another state official said.
Moreover, the draught at Sagar is likely to be 9 to 10 metres, which although higher than Haldia's 6.5 metres, will be lesser than Tajpur's 12 metres.
Since Tajpur is located on the mainland, only Rs 150 crore will have to be spent by the state to lay roads. The cost of building the railway network is yet to be calculated but it will be less than that needed at Sagar Island because a bridge will not be required at Tajpur.
Ships with up to 60,000 tonnes of cargo can enter Tajpur, compared to 30,000 tonnes at Haldia and 45,000 tonnes at Sagar.
Sources in the shipping industry said Tajpur is the closest to the 10-metre-plus natural draught, which is ideal for a port.
