Kolkata, Jan 7 (IANS) Stressing on the development of inland waterways, union Shipping, Highways and Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari Wednesday cleared the Sagar deep sea port and Haldia Dock 2 projects for West Bengal as well as a highway project linking Kolkata and Siliguri.
"Today...the important project from Kolkata to Siliguri has been given all type of permission and financial sanction for the project and we will complete that," Gadkari said at the Bengal Global Business Summit here.
"We have already taken some decisions related to the ports - Rs.12,000 crore for Sagar port, then we have already taken a decision to start Haldia Dock 2 (at a cost) of Rs.1,200 crore, and we'll start this work at the end of February."
The project cost of Sagar port is estimated at Rs.12,000 crore, the Haldia Dock 2 at Rs.1,200 crore and the Kolkata-Siliguri highway is worth Rs.4,500 crore.
Also, the floating storage and regasification unit with an approximate valuation of Rs.1,200 crore near the proposed Deep Sea Port has been sanctioned.
The unit will route the mined gas to the Haldia port from which it will be distributed across India and Bangladesh.
"By pipeline they will take this gas to Haldia and it can go to India and Bangladesh. This project also has been sanctioned," the minister said.
The Kolkata Municipal Development Authority has also signed a Rs.300 crore deal with Kolkata Port Trust for Kolkata Eye - modeled on the lines of the famous giant Ferris wheel in London.
The project will be entirely funded by West Bengal and the construction project has been given to a British company.
Besides, the World Bank is financing the construction of a 13-terminal inland waterway, linking Varanasi and Haldia.
The World Bank has provided Rs.4,200 crore for the project, work on which will start within two months, the minister said.
Gadkari said the waterway will change the economy of Bengal.
"In China, 44 percent of goods traffic is on water and in India it is only 3.3 percent. So we have already decided to give a priority to the waterways," he said.
The highways and road constructions department is also adopting modern technologies and based on the Rotterdam and Belgian tunnels, is considering 4-km tunnel based on push-back technology which increases the utility of tunnels.
However, Gadkari said inland waterways and ports top the agenda and the Centre is interested to modernise big ports.
"We are very much interested as far as big ports like Sagar port are concerned," he said.
The political uproar over increasing the jurisdiction of BSF, the opposition is accusing the Center of interfering in the rights of the states
Since the increase in the jurisdiction of the Border Security Force in Punjab, West Bengal, and Assam, this has been continuously being questioned by the states. The states are also accusing the
Parties not fighting polls may lose registration: CEC
Kolkata, March 21 (IANS) The Election Commission is seriously mulling revoking registration of political parties that fail to contest elections within a specific period of time, Chief Election
IPL 2022 RCB vs RR Playing XI: Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals will face tough competition, see the probable playing XI of both the teams
In IPL 2022, the 39th match of the season will be played between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals on Tuesday. The match between the two teams will be held at the Maharashtra Cricket
IND vs PAK: How did India win in seven matches against Pakistan in the World Cup, who was the hero? know
An exciting match was played between India and Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2024. The match between these two arch-rivals has always been very special. These two teams have not been playing a
Chandrayaan-3: PM Modi dominated the BRICS conference due to the success of Chandrayaan, congratulations from world leaders
A banquet dinner was organized during the BRICS summit on Wednesday. Prime Minister Modi was the center of attraction during this dinner program. In fact, after the success of India's Chandrayaan-3
Covid-19: BA.5.2 wreaks havoc with BF.7 in China, scientists worry – even those with booster dose are not safe from this
China has been the victim of a severe outbreak of the Corona epidemic for more than a month. According to media reports, not only are the cases of infected people increasing rapidly here but also a
Supreme Court: Important comment of the Supreme Court, 'The purpose of helping the poor should not be to convert them'
The Supreme Court has once again made strict remarks on illegal conversions. Describing those who convert religion by luring money, food, or medicine as wrong, the Supreme Court said, whoever wants to
There should be no Distinction Between terror Groups: Modi
New Delhi, Jan 25 (IANS) Describing terrorism as a "principal global threat", Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday said there should be no distinction between terrorist groups and each country must
Nupur Sharma was the target of terrorist arrested in Russia: ISIS terrorist arrested in Russia spewed secrets; Received 3 months of training in Turkey
'I am Ajamov Mashahont. I was born in 1992. I took oath in April 2022 in front of ISIS leader Yusuf Tajik. Then in 2022 took special training from Turkey. After this Yusuf came to Russia on Tajike's
Sikandar VS Pushpa1: Sikandar wiped out Allu Arjun's Pushpa, and broke this record on Wednesday
No matter how much struggle Salman Khan faced in his film career in the beginning, but now he has reached that level of stardom where the film business of more than 100 crores on his name alone. The
