Latest news with #DPDH
The Hindu
05-07-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Allegations of tender irregularity, fraud at Deocha-Pachami coal project ‘baseless': WBPDCL
The West Bengal Power Development Corporation (WBPDCL) on Friday (July 4, 2025) refuted allegations of tender breach and financial fraud made by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on the tendering process behind the Deocha-Pachami-Dewanganj-Harisingha (DPDH) coal mining project in West Bengal's Birbhum. A senior official of the WBPDCL told The Hindu on Friday that the CPI(M)'s demand for a judicial probe into the tendering process of the coal project 'makes no sense'. CPI(M) State Secretary Mohammad Salim on Thursday had accused the Trinamool government and WBPDCL of breach of tender guidelines, violations of allotment agreement, and miscategorisation of the coal mine 'to bypass the need for environmental clearances and public hearings.' Addressing CPI(M)'s allegations of irregularities in the tendering process, the WBPDCL official said that the tendering process was conducted on a national e-procurement system operated by the National Informatics Centre (NIC). 'A total of 11 companies had shown interest, of which eight had qualified and participated in the tender process. Five of them were from other States like Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand. Of them, the company with the highest bid value of 71.5% revenue share was selected. This means, in a revenue sharing model, 71.5% of the profit would go to the government,' the official claimed. They added that this is the highest bid value received by any company pertaining to basalt or stone mining so far in the State, for this kind of tender. WBPDCL also refuted allegations that clearances were not obtained and the mining plan was not submitted before mining operations began at the DPDH project. 'All necessary clearances have been obtained. A series of statutory clearances and permissions is required to operate a mine. We have obtained the necessary permissions, submitted our mining plan, secured consent to operate from the Director General of Mines Safety, and obtained other requisite clearances. It must be remembered that DPDH is a continuous project which will go on for months and years,' the WBPDCL official said. The official further stated that the reason basalt had to be mined before coal is that, unlike in other coal mines, the coal in the DPDH project is trapped under a layer of basalt, which is 80 metres to 200 metres thick. 'How can we mine the coal if we do not mine the basalt first? It is not clear why questions are being raised on the ongoing basalt mining project given these circumstances,' the official said. CPI(M) leader Mr. Salim had raised questions on why a power development corporation was concerned with the basalt mining work at the DPDH mine. On the CPI(M)'s allegations that the mining work was started in a 12-acre area 'to deliberately bypass the need for clearances and a public hearing needed for a mine of a bigger scale', the WBPDCL official told The Hindu that 'it is not possible to start mining operations in the entirety of the 3,500 acre project area at once.' However, the CPI(M) had also alleged the tender guidelines were breached when the company selected as the mine developer and operator at DPDH, 'Trancemarine and Confreight Logistics Private Limited', reportedly underwent an acquisition after being awarded the contract. No clarification was given on this matter. The CPI(M) State Secretary, Mr. Salim had alleged that the acquisition and consequent ownership change of the selected company violates WBPDCL's own tender conditions and 'hints at deep corruption in the DPDH project'. It is worth noting that there have also been prolonged and widespread protests in the Mohammed Bazar block of Birbhum district, where locals accused the government of 'tricking them into surrendering land' for the DPDH coal project in exchange for lucrative benefits.
The Hindu
03-07-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
WB CPI(M) demands judicial inquiry in tendering process of Deocha Pachami coal project
Alleging breach of tender guidelines and violations of the allotment agreement concerning the Deocha-Pachami-Dewanganj-Harisingha (DPDH) coal mining project, Communist Party of India (Marxist) State Secretary Mohammad Salim on Thursday (July 3, 2025) sought a judicial inquiry in the matter. The CPI(M) leader claimed that the coal mining project was a 'big scam' and demanded that the implementation of the project be halted till the allegations are probed. Mr. Salim said that in March 2024, a private company called Trancemarine and Confreight Logistics Private Limited was selected as the mine developer and operator (MDO) for basalt mining through West Bengal Power Development Corporation's (WBPDCL's) tendering process but later the company was acquired by a 'giant corporation called Himadri Speciality Chemical Ltd' in April 2025. 'An acquisition or ownership change of the selected company violates WBPDCL's tender conditions and hints at deep corruption in the DPDH project… Basalt mining alone will lead to profits of ₹5000 crores. Trancemarine, and now its new owners, Himadri, will also be entitled to a big chunk of that profit,' the CPI(M) leader told journalists. The CPI(M) State secretary alleged that leaders of the ruling dispensation are also set to profit off the purported acquisition due to their alleged links to 'Himadri Speciality Chemical'. 'The government is in cahoots with private players to line its own pockets,' he said. Alleging lack of transparency or accountability in its operations of the mega coal mining project the CPI(M) leader the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre of being a 'silent enabler of Trinamool's corruption.' 'Firstly, why is a power development corporation issuing tenders for a basalt mining project? The WBPDCL was supposed to prepare and submit a geological report and a mining plan to the Union Ministry of Coal within 21 months of the allotment agreement. It has been 66 months since then. Till today, no such report or plan has been submitted,' Mr Salim alleged at a press conference in the party's headquarters at Kolkata's Muzaffar Ahmad Bhavan. Mr. Salim accused the Trinamool government of 'deliberately miscategorising the project as a small 12-acre mine to bypass the need for environmental clearances and public hearings'. The DPDH coal mining project, located in Birbhum's Mohammad Bazar block and allocated to the WBPDCL, started operations in a 12-acre area after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's announcement at the Bengal Global Business Summit on February 6 this year. Ms Banerjee had claimed earlier this year that DPDH is the largest coal block in India and the second-largest coal block in the world, with estimated reserves of about 1,240 million tonnes (MT) of coal and 675 MT of basalt. Meanwhile, WBPDCL authorities had earlier said that the project area spans a total of 3540 acres, and the basalt has to be extracted first from the top of the coal, which lies at a considerable depth of 300 metres to 1,000 metres. Notably, there were prolonged and continuing protests by local activists and residents against the DPDH coal project, over allegations of displacement of the indigenous people and 'violations of rights of the tribals to water, forest and land codified in the Forest Rights Act, 2006'. In April this year, in a hearing of a petition concerning the DPDH coal mining project, the Calcutta High Court had directed the West Bengal government and the WBPDCL to file affidavits.
The Hindu
25-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Calcutta High Court seeks response from Bengal government over Deocha Pachami coal project
A division bench of the Calcutta High Court has sought a response from the State Government and the West Bengal Power Development Corporation Limited (WBPDCL) regarding the Deocha Pachami Dewanganj Harisingha (DPDH) coal mining project on Thursday (April 24, 2025). Hearing a petition by economist and activist Prasenjit Bose, the division bench of Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Chaitali Chatterjee directed respondents, including the Government of West Bengal and the WBPDCL, to file affidavits within three weeks, and a reply, if any, within a week thereafter. WBPDCL, the executing agency, is currently in the process of excavating the 80 metres to 250 metres thick basalt layer over the DPDH coal block in West Bengal's Birbhum. Following West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's announcement at the Bengal Global Business Summit, basalt mining work started at the DPDH coal block on February 6 this year, amidst resistance from local villagers. In his petition, petitioner Mr Bose alleged that the respondents, including the West Bengal government and the WBPDCL, have 'reneged on their legal and contractual obligations' and have 'pursued a confounding trajectory of basalt mining in an area allotted for a coal block.' 'A government notification concerning the coal project issued in November 2021 describes the entire project in a certain manner. After the Chief Minister's announcement in February this year, officials connected to this project have made several statements about the project plan in the media, which do not tally with the initial notification,' Mr. Bose told The Hindu. He added that no official notification has been issued as on date, either for the local population at DPDH or the public at large, specifying the current nature of the mining activities or the environmental and other official clearances obtained. 'There is no information on this coal mining project in the public domain. The people are completely in the dark over what is happening at the DPDH area. There has been no public hearing with the residents whose lands are being acquired for this project. While many have agreed to sell their land in exchange for compensation and jobs, a large section of people have not consented,' Mr. Bose said. 'The question is why a power development corporation is undertaking the work to mine basalt after entering into agreements with the Central government on account of the coal deposits. Basalt mining is a separate project, and that work should be in concurrence with the prior agreement,' he added. During the hearing, Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam cited a past judgment in the Madras High Court in connection with the Salem Highway Project. 'There are a couple of decisions which say whether post-facto environment clearance can be granted or if it should be prior,' he observed during the hearing on Thursday (April 24, 2025).
