The West Bengal government is working with the Adani Group to build a deep-sea port at Tajpur in East Midnapore district, Shashi Panja, the state’s commerce and industry minister, said on Sunday, dismissing claims by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders that the Adanis have withdrawn from the joint venture.
Addressing a press conference in Kolkata, Panja said: “The Bengal government and the Adanis are very much working together on the Tajpur project for which the Union home ministry has already given a conditional clearance. The home ministry and the ministries of port and defence have sought several clarifications. Our government and the Adani Group are working on these issues right now.”
Speculations on the project started when Gautam Adani, the company’s founder, and his son, Karan, did not attend the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) held in Kolkata on November 21 and 22 although both were invited to the annual event started by chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
Banerjee’s inaugural address before the foreign delegates and top Indian industrialists, such as Reliance Group’s Mukesh Ambani, stoked the speculations because she invited the participants to join a global tender for the Tajpur project although it was known that the Adanis had already got the contract.
