The Hindu : Business : WB airport project will block coal reserves

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WB airport project will block coal reserves

Special Correspondent

The SPV proposes to spend
Rs. 10,000 crore
A mini-township planned on
2,300 acres

KOLKATA: Reserves of about 1.4 billion tonnes of prime Ranigunj coal will get blocked if the project proposed by the West Bengal Government for setting up an airport and a mini-township in the Andal-Fardipur block in Burdwan is implemented, a study done by the Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI) has revealed.

A report based on the study, has recommended that the project be shifted just 15 km south to save the coal reserves in the interest of the country’s energy security, while still implementing the airport project which was also a crucial infrastructure project. Copies of the report have been sent to the Union Civil Aviation Ministry, the Coal Ministry as also the West Bengal Government.

The CMPDI study revealed that of the 1.4 billion tonnes, about 350 million tonnes is under the licensed area of Eastern Coalfields, a subsidiary of Coal India Ltd. (CIL) and the airport project is within 240 metres of an underground working mine.

The commissioning of the CMPDI study came after CIL received the detailed map of the airport project which is proposed to be implemented as a private project assisted by the State’s apex industry promotion agency. While the airport would come up by developing an existing abandoned airstrip at Andal near Asansol, a mini-township was also proposed to be set up on 2,300 acres.

Bengal Aerotroplis Projects Ltd (BAPL), a special purpose vehicle (SPV) which has been floated for this purpose, proposed to spend Rs. 10,000 crore in four phases over seven years to create this infrastructure, with the airport coming up in 30 months from getting the land. It also planned to replicate the model in other States.

However, the project ran into trouble with CIL maintaining that it would hamper the country’s energy security plans. A meeting was taken by State Chief Secretary, which was also attended by CIL Chairman P. S. Bhattacharjee

State government officials have said that there were no working mines within the project area. However, in a letter to the Union Civil Aviation Secretary seeking permission for the project, an official in the State Industries Department admitted that the existing Moira Colliery is within 500-600 metres of the project.

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