Kolkata, Jan 8 (PTI) Union Minister Shantanu Thakur Monday lamented the uncertainty in the progress of the proposed Tajpur deep sea port and recalled an "unanswered call" from the Centre to the West Bengal government to collaborate on it as a revenue generating project.

Thakur, the union minister of state for ports and shipping, said the Centre had sent a proposal to the effect.

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"The Centre had sent the proposal as it was interested but there was no response from the state," he said speaking at the sidelines of the first Inland Waterways Development Council meeting here.

The project went into a limbo following West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's surprise announcement at the November Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) inviting bids for the port several months after a private group was selected as the lowest bidder.

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At the BGBS Banerjee declared 12 "game changing opportunities" in Bengal with the Tajpur deep sea port at the forefront and called for open tenders.

Adani Ports was earlier selected as the developer for the port. The Adani Group's absence at the BGBS further fueled speculation about its involvement in the Tajpur project.

Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd (APSEZ) had emerged as the L1 bidder in October 2022, out of two final contenders. JSW Group was the other participant in that round.

Sources in the Adani group recently said the company did not receive any official communication on the change in plans about the port and was still awaiting the letter of award.

The state government is also yet to announce officially about the outcome of the previous bidding process.

Thakur highlighted various ongoing development projects for inland waterways in West Bengal. These include dredging initiatives, modernisation of local gates, establishment of multi-modal terminals, implementation of RoRo services to bolster river transport and infrastructure development in border areas.

Dredging for improving the inland waterways navigability at an estimated cost of Rs 2,000 crore, was among the intiatives, he added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)