Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced at a rally in Berhampore that West Bengal’s largest 660 MW supercritical thermal power plant at Sagardighi has been completed and will become operational on 10 December. She said the project will create employment for 2,000 people, with the state spending Rs 45.67 billion on establishing the new unit, which will supply electricity to around 1.67 million households.

Banerjee added that the Sagardighi facility is East India’s first supercritical power unit and is expected to generate a total of 26,000 direct and indirect jobs. The Trinamool Congress, in a post on X, described the project as a milestone for infrastructure, energy security and employment, crediting its completion to the Chief Minister’s “visionary leadership”.

Addressing the rally, Banerjee also raised concerns over severe erosion caused by the Bhagirathi river in Malda and Murshidabad, which she said has submerged around 12,116 bighas of land. She alleged that commitments made under the Farakka treaty—where the Centre was to undertake erosion control, dredge the Farakka stretch and provide Rs 7 billion to the state—had not been fulfilled.

She noted that the state government had submitted a Rs 15-billion plan to the Centre to tackle the erosion issue but had not received a response. Despite this, Banerjee said, the state has completed 189 projects in Murshidabad worth Rs 9 billion, including six embankment projects in Samserganj and Dhulian costing Rs 960 million. An additional Rs 2 billion has been allocated for further embankment construction.