Thaindian News

Kolkata, May 15 (IANS) The West Bengal government is planning to build a small port at the mouth of the Hooghly river, a senior government official said here Friday.
The government earlier planned a deep sea port in the region as the nearby Haldia port was in bad shape due to sharp fall in draught. But since the project is expected to take a long time to be completed, the government is now planning the small port.

“The port that we urgently require might not be as big as the deep sea port,” state Industry Secretary Sabyasachi Sen told reporters on the sidelines of an industry conference.

The construction of the port will be completed before the proposed Petroleum, Chemical and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR) project comes up in Nayachar near Haldia in East Midnapore district.

“Our first priority is a port facility; the refinery can come later at Nayachar,” Sen said.

The PCPIR project will comprise a chemical hub at Nayachar island and industrial units in the adjoining Haldia region.

The central government plans to build chemical and petrochemical hubs in different parts of the country under its PCPIR policy.

Bijoy Chatterjee, the central chemicals and petrochemicals secretary, who was also present at the press conference, said the central government would shortly sign an agreement with West Bengal, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, the states where PCPIR projects are coming up.

“The agreement would detail the time frame of the execution of the projects and also the responsibilities to be shared between the states and the centre,” Chatterjee said.