But Adhikari said the Trinamool-run East Midnapore 'zilla parishad' (district council) has already started parleys with experts on the eco-tourism project that will cover 78 km of the coastal belt and 37 km of the river belt in the district.

'Nayachar is a property of five million people of East Midnapore. The zilla parishad will get the project going. Half a million people will get employment,' said the union minister, who is a Lok Sabha MP from Contai in the district.

He said efforts were also on to connect the state's sea resort of Digha with Orissa's popular sea and temple town of Puri.

'This will result in international tourists coming to Digha,' he said.

A section of environmentalists and Trinamool have opposed the chemical hub project at Nayachar saying the environment in the islands would be damaged.

The central government has already given a preliminary clearance for the project based on the initial environment impact assessment. However, the state government was now waiting for the union government's approval in regard to the detailed environment impact assessment.