Bengal govt cancels first agreement with Adani for proposal to build port

Kolkata: The West Bengal government has chosen to "dissolve" the letter of intent (LoI) that Adani Ports received last year in order to develop the Tajpur deep sea port. A letter of intent (LoI) is a formal document that, prior to the finalisation of a formal agreement, represents a preliminary commitment between two or more parties, according to sources.

At the Bengal Global Business Summit on Tuesday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee made an unexpected announcement. She said that her administration will shortly reopen the tender process to receive new proposals for the Rs 25,000-crore Tajpur deep sea port project.

"The proposed deep sea port at Tajpur is ready. You can all participate in the tender. It will attract an investment of about Rs 25,000 crore," Banerjee said, stoking rumours on the project's future that the Adani group hoped to develop last year.

However, the Adani Group was not present at the premier corporate function hosted by the West Bengal government this year, India Today reported.

The state government's decision to "dissolve" the LoI is in the backdrop of the current cash-for-query controversy involving Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra.

The Lok Sabha Speaker, Om Birla, received a complaint against Moitra from BJP MP Nishikant Dubey. The lawyer, Jai Anant Dehadrai, accused Moitra of accepting money in exchange for her questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Adani Group in Parliament.

Having fiercely denied the accusation, Moitra is today facing recommendations for removal from the Lok Sabha following the Ethics Committee's report, which it submitted when it took up the cash-for-query matter.