West Bengal govt begins disbursal of compensation to consenting landowners in Deocha Pachami

The Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government handed over cheques and appointment letters to 200 tribal landowners of Deucha Panchami coal mine in Birbhum district on Wednesday, following a new package announcement on Monday.

Around 150 landowners were handed over compensation cheques, land rights documents and appointment letters for jobs by district administration today while Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee handed over cheques to 50 persons at Nabanna today. More than 1500 landowners have agreed to offer land, the CM said.

“Around 1500 landowners have offered their land. The project will offer more than one lakh employment and people will be benefitted,” Banerjee said.


The Deucha-Panchami coal block, which has an estimated reserve of 2.1 billion tonnes, was allocated to the state by the Centre in 2018.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced in November 2021 that the first phase of the project in Dewanganj and Harinsngha blocks will start in areas with less deep coal deposits. The total land area for the project is 3,400 acres, out of which 1,000 acre is owned by the state government, she said, adding that the area has 12 villages and 21,000 people reside in the area.

Meanwhile, with the aim of industrialization, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said the state government's target is to uphold Bengal as the future industrial destination. She held an industrialist’s meet at Nabanna, the state secretariat, in Kolkata.

Banerjee said that the “Tajpur deep sea port will see investment of Rs 15,000 crore and generate employment in the region. The WBIDC has received 1500 new investment proposals. Three industrial corridors-Dankuni-RaghunathpurDankuni-Haldia and Dankuni-Kalyani have already been planned.” The CM said during an interaction with the industrialists at Nabanna today.

Banerjee, while addressing an industry meet at Nabanna, said a Slovenian company has shown interest in investing in Bengal.

Industrialist Sanjiv Goenka said, “We must project Bengal with a leader who is decisive, a reliable investment scenario and a message that if industrialists do investments in Bengal, their investments will be protected in Bengal. These can help draw investments to Bengal. If we can project this to the industry leaders outside in Bengal and seek investments.”

Goenka also noted that the Deucha Panchami coal mine will not only generate investments but will also create opportunities for downstream steel and power projects.

Harsh Neotia, the chief of Ambuja Group, spoke about enhancing the soft power of a city of creative economy. “With focus on Kolkata, an umbrella as an international centre for creative economy -international conferences and programmes.” Karan Adani, CEO of Adani Ports, was present at the industry meet today.