Correspondent
KOLKATA, August 26 2020 (HS): In a major cabinet decision, the West Bengal government today approved setting up of Eastern India's first and only submarine 'Cable Landing Station' at the coastal town of Digha in East Midnapore district at a cost of about Rs 1,000 crores.
This new most sophisticated Cable Landing Station, to be built by private sector telecommunication giant JIO following a successful international bidding for the project, would bring about a sea change in the availability of a very fast, comprehensive and well connected communication data services and data network at top global standard for millions of customers not only in Eastern and North East India, but also in countries like Bangladesh, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand.
Announcing the granting of the 'dream project' after the cabinet meeting this afternoon in presence of several of her ministerial colleagues at State Secretariat Nabanna Chief minister Mamata Banerjee claimed that such a major decision of the government would open the doors of employment opportunity for lakhs of educated youth in the state besides improving the economic status of the region.
Elaborating some other major decisions taken at the meeting, the CM said among them were the approval for the 'West Bengal State Broadband Policy for 2020' to make a huge leap forward towards the making of a Digital India programme which would also create the opportunity of huge employment generation.
'We have also decided to give the go ahead signal for the construction of the long pending 'Deep Sea Port' at Tazpur, also in East Midnapore district, to enable huge cargo ships and oil tankers to come upto the confluence of Bay of Bengal for loading and unloading of their consignments.
Though earlier the Centre had offered to participate in the massive project jointly with the state government with 74 per cent financial stakes, later they withdrew.
After waiting for more than two years without any positive response from the Centre, the West Bengal government had now decided to take control the entire project with 100 per cent stake, up from 26 per cent earlier, and decided to build the port on its own as a major infrastructural scheme, she said.
Among other major decisions taken at today's meeting were the introduction of a 'Silicon Valley' project to accommodate hundreds of world renowned IT and ITES companies with thousands of employees and the launching of the first phase work of the much awaited Deucha-Pachami coal block project in Birbhum district involving an expenditure of over Rs 2,000 crores.