At a time the BJP has met the Opposition’s attacks on the accusations against the Adani Group with silence, West Bengal’s Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari has caused ripples by accusing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of “colluding” with the industrialist. Talking with reporters on the sidelines of a news conference on Thursday, the BJP leader said the group made Rs 25,000 investment proposals to the state when it participated in the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) a few years ago. “We all know CM Mamata Banerjee's colluding with him (Adani). We all know what happened in the BGBS. I already expressed my concern regarding Tajpur port. Rs 25,000 cr investment was to be done while 10 lakh jobs were to be provided, what will happen to such promises?” Adhikari said as the Adani Group’s shares nosedived. The comment came in response to Banerjee’s statement that calls had gone out from the highest echelons of power in Delhi to industrialists. "Yesterday (Wednesday), it seemed like the central government was on the verge of a collapse. Why was it on the verge of collapse? Because the share market saw a mega landslide,” the CM said. Responding to Adkhikari's comment, TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said, “These are state government projects. Some players come forward to take them ahead. In this case, it was the Adani Group. Now if they fail to take up the projects, then some other players will go ahead with them. These projects were allocated after floating tenders. There is a provision that they must be started within a timeframe. If that does not happen then the state government will go ahead with Plan B.” BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya told reporters that only the Adani Group and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee would be able to shed light on the future of the investments. “Only they can answer this. But we strongly condemn what Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said yesterday. West Bengal contributes very little to the country's economy. That is why following her statement, the Sensex did not show any abnormality,” said Bhattacharya. In October, the West Bengal government handed over the Letter of Intent for the development of a deep-sea port in Tajpur, Purba Medinipur district, to Adani Ports. The letter was received by Karan Adani, the CEO of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) at a post-Durga Puja event and in the presence of Mamata Banerjee. According to the statement from the state government at the time, the port will require an investment of Rs 15,000 crore. The related port-led infrastructure development will involve another Rs 10,000 crore and 25,000 jobs are expected to be created directly. Meanwhile, the Adani Group also showed an interest in investing in Deucha-Pachami-Dewanganj-Harinsinga (DPDH) coal block in the state. The DPDH coal block in Birbhum district is the second-largest coal block in the world, containing about 1,198 million tonnes of coal and 1,400 million tonnes of basalt.
