The shipping ministry is clueless on the road map for the proposed deep-sea port at Sagar, even as finance minister Pranab Mukherjee in his Budget speech announced funds to be provided ?in due course? for the purpose.
Minister of state for shipping Mukul Roy said the ministry does not have any plan as of now to develop a project at Sagar. ?The finance minister has promised funds but has not provided anything yet. Let the finance minister first come up with some concrete funding proposal. We can then create a road map for the project,? Roy said. The Trinamool Congress proposed an alternative port, off the coast of Bengal and Mukherjee has responded to it, Roy said. ?Nothing is going to happen immediately,? Roy said.
However, since the dredging subsidy to Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) for Haldia and Kolkata Dock Systems runs up to Rs 300-Rs 400 crore per annum, the finance minister would take necessary initiatives to push the plan, ministry officials said. ?The finance ministry is in favour of closing down the two dock systems under KoPT and wants a new deep draughted port to come under KoPT?s management,? the official said. The finance ministry might ask the shipping ministry to work afresh on KoPT?s 2002 proposal of developing a port at Sagar, he added.
The finance ministry has issued a number of letters to KoPT seeking justification for running the Kolkata and Haldia ports with dredging subsidies. In fact, KoPT in 2002 first mulled development of a full-fledged port facility at Sagar in view of the problems its two dock systems were facing for low draught conditions (at around 7 metres now). Draught availability at Sagar is more than 10 metres, which through dredging could be raised to 12 metres.
In 2004-05, the shipping ministry through the department of economic affairs sought Japan International Cooperation Agency?s (JICA) funding for preparing a detailed project report. JICA, in turn, wanted to engage Japan?s Overseas Coastal Development Institute to examine the proposal and prepare a DPR. Japan, however, did not go ahead with the funding proposal. Meanwhile, the then finance minister P Chidambaram made a budgetary allocation of Rs 10 crore to study, find a location and prepare a DPR. The shipping ministry, thereafter, invited bids from international consultants and received several bids. But with no further progress, the Centre eventually pulled out of it.
The West Bengal government in 2009 evinced interest to develop a deep draughted port in public- private- partnership and had talks with Sajjan Jindal and NRI investor Prasoon Mukherjee. However, there has been no development on that front so far.
Meanwhile, KoPT took initiatives to create a new cargo handling facility at Diamond Harbour and Salukhali but for lack of land it had to scrap the Diamond Harbour project, proposed to be set up at an investment of Rs 1,235 crore. The industry is hopeful that the project at Sagar might finally see the light of day with railway minister Mamata Banerjee also proposing to extend railway tracks up to Sagar, necessary for connectivity. Even the Sunderban Development Authority has a plan to create a bridge over the Ganga to connect Sagar Island with Hardwood point or mainland Bengal.