Adani Group to invest Rs 1 lakh crore across Bengal by 2035

Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani announced investments of over Rs 1 lakh crore in West Bengal by 2035, spanning ports, logistics, power, roads and data centres. The group will also invest Rs 4,000 crore in a 2,000-bed hospital

Kolkata: Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani on Thursday announced that the conglomerate would invest more than Rs 1 lakh crore in West Bengal by 2035.

Addressing a gathering after laying the foundation for a 2,000-bed hospital in New Town near Kolkata along with Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, Adani said the group would invest Rs 4,000 crore in the multi-speciality Adani Arogya Mandir, which is expected to create 10,000 jobs.

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Adani said half of the beds at the not-for-profit hospital would be reserved for economically weaker sections eligible under state and central health insurance schemes. The facility will also house a medical college and research and care infrastructure.

“We expect to invest over Rs 1 lakh crore in West Bengal by 2035,” Adani said, adding that the investment would span ports, logistics, power generation, transmission and distribution, roads, bridges and ropeways, green cement and hyperscale data centres.

This is the first formal mention of the Adani Group’s proposal to invest in power distribution in West Bengal, a sector that has so far remained the domain of the R P Sanjiv Goenka Group through its flagship company CESC Ltd in Kolkata and Howrah.

CESC supplies power to the twin cities, while the rest of West Bengal, along with Salt Lake and New Town, remains under the state-owned West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (WBSEDCL).

Explaining the rationale behind the infrastructure push, Adani said ports strengthen logistics, logistics attracts industry, industry drives manufacturing, manufacturing needs energy and energy enables digital infrastructure, adding that “jobs multiply” as the chain builds up.

Calling West Bengal the country’s natural maritime and logistics bridge to Northeast India and Southeast Asia, Adani said the state has the potential to become “one of Asia’s greatest integrated industrial and economic platforms”.

He also announced the group’s support for the restoration of the Writers’ Building, the revitalisation of Kumartuli Ghat and initiatives to showcase Kolkata’s Durga Puja to the world.

Adani described Mundra Port in Gujarat as the group’s first “karmabhoomi” (land where one works) and expressed hope that West Bengal would become its second “karmabhoomi”.

Adani said he had visited the Kalighat Temple earlier in the day and prayed for the strength to lead, the will to dream and the energy to execute.

West Bengal’s awakening and progress would translate into “India’s momentum”, he added.

Adani Arogya Mandir, described as a world-class academic medical centre and comprehensive healthcare ecosystem facility, will be spread over 51.75 acres and cater to more than 2 lakh in-patients and over 20 lakh out-patients annually, according to a statement.

The facility will develop a research ecosystem covering genomics, precision medicine, biomedical informatics, artificial intelligence, clinical trials, molecular sciences and other applied biomedical sciences.

The hospital will focus on translating scientific discoveries into improved diagnosis, treatment and prevention, the statement said.

The Adani Foundation has engaged Mayo Clinic Global Consulting in the US and Singapore’s SingHealth to bring global expertise in clinical care, academic medicine, digital health, quality, workforce development and innovation, it added.