Tajpur Deep Sea Port and the 2026 Bengal Elections: The Infrastructure That Will Decide the State’s Future

Main Article
Tue, Feb 03, 09:00 AM IST

The Bengal Elections for 2026, are in some way bound to set a precedent that we cannot yet predict. This is an opinion piece in that direction based on what I think is the most important aspect of the future of our state – 

 

The Tajpur Deep Sea Port


Apologies for disappointing you, in case you were expecting debated squabbles along party lines. But, this is what is truly critical.

Let’s do a timeline recap first:
 

  • 2016 - 2018: Government of West Bengal undertakes the project conceptualization phase of a greenfield deep seaport at Tajpur, in Purba Medinipur district.
  • 2018 - 2020: Environment clearances are granted, EOI is issued to develop a port in the PPP model. By December 2020, bids are invited.
  • 2021 - 2023:  Adani Ports & SEZ wins the bid to develop the port, at ₹25,000 Cr. But, following legal downturns and controversies elsewhere, the project is stalled and later LOI is nullified.
  • 2024 – 2025: Legal hurdles are cleared. By December 2025, a fresh global tender is called. This time, an additional 1000 acres of land is offered as industrial ecosystem support to all future bidders.


Now, it’s time to breakdown what it truly indicates for West Bengal:

  • Paradip not needed: Tajpur is critical in reclaiming the trade “leakage” to Odisha. This will solidify Bengal’s logistics economy and remove the barriers of having just riverine ports. Its companies would no longer need to depend on Paradip.

     
  • The Jangal-Sundari network: The Dankuni-Tajpur-Raghunathpur belt will establish an industrial spine with the port as its anchor. The “Jangal-Sundari” for manufacturing, Dankuni for logistics, and Tajpur as the endpoint. An industrial corridor of this scale in the state, for the first time since the partition.

     
  • Bengal turns to the world: The export ecosystem of the immediate adjacent districts mature quickly, and all is driven and directed towards it. Every MSME surrounding it, now thinks of shipping overseas, surpassing local constraints.

     
  • The Chattogram leverage: Post political unrest in Bangladesh, India has lost its influence in the CHTG terminal in terms of both trade and geopolitics. Tajpur recaptures that entire value chain. Emboldened by the Amritsar-Kolkata-Tajpur, it becomes the corridor for entire East India.

     
  • The Surat-Dankuni corridor: Budget 2026 announced a new West-East freight corridor from Surat to Dankuni. This industrial artery enhances the weight of Tajpur as a port to carry finished goods, and established the pivot of this network. This makes Bengal a trade necessity location from its point of conception.

 

These points are just something to start with. Tajpur would mean a lot more, it being the single most important economic infrastructure in the state in decades.

 

We know the Bengal has missed a few industrial overhaul trains in the past, but Tajpur Deep Sea Port is not a train. It’s the station. Once built it transforms everything around it for generations to come. 

 

[Deadline for bid: Feb 27th, 2026. Results announced: March 2026.]
[Part 2 of the article will come after the bid result announcement.]
 

About the Author:
Sounak Saha is a Computer Science graduate, who worked as a Senior Data Engineer in India before shifting to Germany for further education. And of course, he is a vehement Bengal enthusiast.