Kolkata, Jun 23 (PTI) The West Bengal government on Thursday said it has executed a lease agreement for exploration and mining of shale gas with Great Eastern Energy Corporation Ltd (GEECL).The agreement, which was signed on Wednesday, will enable mining of shale gas in GEECL’s existing coal block at Raniganj area in Paschim Burdwan, the state government said in an official release.“It is expected that up to 6.63 TCF shale gas will be excavated in GEECL’s Raniganj block. It will bring in an investment of Rs 15,000 crore, and create further ancillary industries and generate thousands of new jobs for the local youth,” the release said."We will now make plans for the initial core wells in the shale programme and, based on the results obtained, we will then progress to a development plan to drill pilot production wells," GEECL MD & CEO Prashant Modi said.A similar lease will be signed with the ESSAR Group for shale exploration in the Durgapur region next week, the government release said.The production of shale gas will help provide an alternative and cleaner source of energy, and improve the air quality of the region, it added. PTI BSM RBT RBT