I don't understand this "gelo gelo rob. There was no such concrete proposal from Infy that they will make the investment if govt can provide the land near Vedic village. It was the govt who initially planned this. Infy didn't give any promise that they will make the campus if they get the land there. Wipro is a different issue. They are committed to the state and they are already constructing few high-rises (8-12 flr) at their existing campus at Sec-V.

I always say in this thread, WB is not in a position to provide hundreds of acres of land to make golf courses and swimming pools inside IT park.

And, govt should really think about the existing vast already acquired land in Newtown. Time to sue hidco.

Mumbai airport ‘demolishers’ bag Eden makeover job (http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/mumbai-airport-demolishers-bag-eden-makeover-job/508603/)
Kolkata The construction company that helped rebuild the airports of Mumbai and Chennai will now be seen bringing down the famous stands of the Eden Gardens. As part of its bid to give the world-renowned stadium a makeover ahead of the 2011 World Cup, the CAB has roped in Chennai-based Advanced Construction Technologies (ACT) Pvt Ltd for razing the outdated stands of Eden.
The Jagmohan Dalmiya-led administration is shelling out Rs 69.75 lakh to the construction giant for carrying out the demolition job. The four most ill-maintained stands of the stadium — blocks B, C, K, and L — will be pulled down, starting September 7. And the CAB has set a 70-day deadline for ACT to carry out the demolition of the four stands, which is the first phase of the makeover process.

“We are going about this makeover job one step at a time. The first step is the demolition process. The four stands will be pulled down. After that’s done, we will call fresh tender for the next phase, which will be for building brand new stands,” explained CAB joint-secretary Bishwarup Dey.

Although outsourced demolition jobs aren’t popular in the Kolkata Maidan, the Chennai-based construction company has an impressive track record, and no wonder the CAB is spending big bucks. Apart from helping in the makeover of the airports in Mumbai and Chennai, ACT is associated with selling construction equipment for Volvo’s Sweden headquarters.

The rebuilding of Eden’s stands was long overdue, and the CAB has been under the scanner for the shabby, age-old concrete stands ever since the IPL Twenty20 carnival came to town.

The CAB, however, had to undertake a complete overhaul of the stadium within the next years since its infrastructure is woefully short of minimum standards set for the venues that will host the World Cup in 2011. India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will jointly host the mega-event.

A few months back, the CAB roped in world-famous American design firm Burt Hill to conduct the overhaul of the stadium over a two-year period. The US-based firm was picked earlier this summer for redesigning the Eden in association with Ahmedabad-based architectural consultants VMS.

The CAB is expected to shell out Rs 50 crore to Rs 80 crore for the project and the Indian Cricket Board has promised to fund half the expenditure. The work involves complete restructuring of the stadium, including replacing the decades-old concrete seats with comfortable, world-class plastic chairs, establishing a top-class shade spanning the stands, renovating the existing structure, building an additional media box and setting up additional practice facilities within the stadium complex.

Large parts under water in the season's heaviest rainfall. Sector V and several parts of the city could do with some boats

Kolkata lashed by heavy showers, more forecast tomorrow (http://www.ptinews.com/news/270888_Kolkata-lashed-by-heavy-showers--more-forecast-tomorrow)
Kolkata, Sept 8 (PTI) Heavy showers since morning threw normal life out of gear as there was waterlogging and traffic snarls in several areas.

"A low pressure area has formed over the West Bengal coast and due to this, there will be heavy to very heavy rainfall over districts of Gangetic West Bengal till tomorrow noon," Regional met director G C Debnath told PTI here.

The city experienced 75 mm rainfall in six hours from 8.30 am, Debnath said.

Waterlogging was reported from different parts of the city and traffic was moving very slowly leading to major snarls, police said.

Arterial roads like Park Street, Jawaharlal Nehru Avenue and C R Avenue were water-logged.

Mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharjee said water pumping stations were working fully to remove the accumulated water.

http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article17175.ece

Prime accused in Vedic Village incident arrested
Marcus Dam
A notorious land broker, suspected to be the king pin of a local land mafia active in Rajarhat on the outskirts of the city, was arrested from West Bengal’s Bankura district early on Tuesday.

The arrest comes a day after the State government announced that it could not proceed with the setting up of the proposed joint sector information technology (IT) township near the area following allegations of forcible grabbing of land.

Gaffar Mollah, the prime accused in the violence that led to the death of a person in the Rajarhat area on August 23, told the police shortly after his arrest that his activities had the direct backing of Raj K. Modi, managing director of the company that owns the Vedic Village resort in the area, who is also a director of a private partner in the IT township project.

The West Bengal government said on Monday that it was not going ahead with the IT township project as it did not “want to be involved in any illegal activity.” It had also explained in a statement its decision not to proceed with the project, citing the arrest of Mr. Modi and suggestions by certain State departments involved in facilitating the project to scrap it...
thought, this would bring some order to the situation - some justice, at last...
ps: Dear MODs, please feel free to delete or move this post, in case it is not appropriate for this thread ....

http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article17175.ece


some justice, at last...

The real criminals (politicians and real estate bigwigs) will probably go scott free. Maomata made some typical noises today by asking farmers to 'take back' the land and trying to incite lawlessness. She also tried to project a 'clean image' by expelling some of her party members whose names are flying around in the scandal. This lady is indeed very "duranto". Hopefully Bartamaan's bhagoban will cool her down a bit.

The CPM leaders are kind of mum after having spoken out in contradictory terms. That's kind of strange because the cadres and comrades usually speak in one voice - I guess the sinful effects of democracy at work :lol:

One 'clean image' type minister is running around looking for cover. Apparently rumours suggest that he was being kept happy with 'ayurvedic treatment' and massages at the retreat.

The IT Minister, who people say is a professional person, tried his best to take WB forward in IT. However he lost out to dirty politics all around him.

A simple football match, a goon with a gun who could not accept defeat of his football team - and a whole project goes down the drain! This is even better than anything that Bollywood has thought about before. If they can pull off a cool movie on this, maybe we will have an Oscar front runner.

I don't understand this "gelo gelo rob.

That's what journalists are for. Either they hype - elo, elo, shob elo for some darling states of the media or they go overboard with negativity - gelo, gelo shob gelo for left wing states like Bengal.

i am so glad i didn't buy a house at vedic village. i have the original email sent by the dude who got arrested. i think my mom spoke to him over the phone.

we decided to build our own mansion far from Kolkata. :)

Zuri Hotels & Resorts — a multinational conglomerate promoted by a consortium of investors from West Asia — is scouting for opportunities in Kolkata. The company is open to contract management opportunities as well as setting up its own hotel in the city. The Zuri Group is into real estate, floriculture and hospitality with resorts and hotels in Kenya, the UK and India.
“The Zuri group sees tremendous potential in Kolkata and rest of the east. We are keen to be present in the hospitality sector here at the earliest. We are in talks with a couple of hotels on a possible management contract and use of the Zuri brand. If something does not work out within six months, we will look at a 1.5-2 acre plot in Kolkata proper to set up a 140-170 room business hotel. The investment will be around Rs 200-225 crore,” said Aditya Mata, general manager of the Zuri group’s flagship property in Kumarakom, Kerala. The group owns two other hotels in Goa and one in Bangalore.
The team currently camping in Kolkata to negotiate with potential partners is looking for a property with large banqueting facility to tap the marriage market. “Since marriages in Kolkata are elaborate, we want to get into the business. It’s a good money-spinner as well,” said Mata.
Incidentally, the company was looking for land in New Town and Rajarhat but developed cold feet after the Vedic land scam. “Land has become a hot potato. The thing that happened in Rajarhat was an eye-opener. We are now looking for a property in the central business district,” company spokesperson Priti Chand said.
Meanwhile, city-based Gama Hospitality (GHPL) on Tuesday signed a master franchisee agreement with Global Franchise Architects (GFA) to launch four international brands — Coffee World, Pizza Corner, The Cream & Fudge Factory and The Donut Baker — in the eastern region. With an investment of Rs 52 crore, GHPL will focus on Kolkata in the initial phase this year.
“We intend to open 35 outlets in this part of the country in the next 18 to 24 months using up a cumulative floorspace of about 42,000 square feet. All the four brands should be in Kolkata by the end of this year,” Gama’s director Gaurav Agarwala said

Source: TOI

For a state still trying to come to terms with the loss of another project, there’s some good news concerning another mega corporate Videocon.
On Tuesday, the consumer electronics major said it hopes to start commercial production at its proposed Rs 100-crore liquid crystal display (LCD) panels unit here before the pujas.
Gautam Sengupta, COO of Kitchen Appliances, a Videocon subsidiary, claimed the facility would be the first of its kind in India. “A clutch of Japanese engineers are working overtime for starting production as per schedule at our Taratala factory,” he added.
Sengupta said the engineers belong to Videocon Display Research Academy which is based in Tokyo. “More Japanese engineers from the academy will join us in the next few days,” he added.
The Videocon group aims to export some of the LCD panels it would be making at Taratala. As for the rest, it would be used for in-house consumption as well as for supplying to other manufacturers. “We will export LCD panels to Singapore by the end of this month,” Sengupta said.
Elaborating on the progress of other projects, the Videocon official said that the group has acquired the bulk of the land for the 10 MW solar power project in Purulia. The company has already started trial production at its electronic component facility near Siliguri. “We are also setting up an IT park at our complex in Salt Lake and getting good response,” he added.

Source: TOI

HOLD IT

i am so confused. the media needs to get a grip on their retarded story.

NEW TOWN is not getting scrapped. It has already been conceived and built.

what's getting scrapped is the Dankuni township..right guys?

pictured below:
http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/6868/image10nn2.jpg

and also another land-art that included the Bengal World Center

http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/747/manie.jpg (http://img35.imageshack.us/i/manie.jpg/)

After a hiatus of over six years, the city will see another international hospitality brand in December with Zurich-based Swissotel setting foot in Rajarhat.
The Swiss hospitality major will manage the 16,000 sq ft hotel being set up by Ambuja Realty at a cost of Rs 100 crore. Ambuja Realty will retain ownership of the property.
“The partnership is Swissotel’s first venture in India and will allow us to market the property globally by leveraging on the Swissotel brand. Although we are still in the final decisionmaking process, the property will primarily be branded as a Swissotel hotel,” Ambuja Realty chairman Harsh Neotia said on Wednesday.
Owned by Fairmont Raffles Hotels International, Swissotel has 28 hotels globally across 25 locations. The parent firm has 91 properties worldwide under the Raffles, Fairmont and Swissotel brands.
Incidentally in 1997, Neotia had tied up with the Radisson Group for developing and marketing a resort at Raichak. However, the agreement was not extended beyond its tenyear term and subsequently, the co-branding of the resort was also annulled in 2007.
Neotia clarified that the alliance with Swissotel would only be relevant to the New Town hotel. The arrangements at other existing hospitality ventures of Ambuja Realty and Bengal Ambuja would remain unchanged. “The management contract is applicable initially for ten years with an option to extend it for another ten. It will restrict Swissotel from partnering with anyone except Ambuja within Kolkata only,” Neotia said.
“We are confident of opening another two hotels in India by next year on the same management-contract model we have with Ambuja Realty. We are open to having multiple partners nationally, but could explore partnering with Ambuja for these projects too,” Swissotel president Meinhard Huck said.

Source: TOI

Builders and industrialists who have had to face censure for taking up projects on land with waterbodies, can take heart. For, now there is a rule in place to allow them to go ahead with such projects, provided they create a waterbody equivalent to the one lost due to the construction.
The state government, for quite some time, has been asking people seeking permission to use plots with waterbody for commercial and industrial purposes to create another waterbody to compensate the loss. But now it has become a rule, not just a verbal appeal. The land and land reforms department has amended the West Bengal Land Reforms Rules, 1965, by which one needed to “create compensatory waterbody of equal or larger size of such waterbody which is sought to be changed, converted or altered in the same moujas or adjoining moujas”.

Source: TOI

Canada opens new India trade office in Kolkata

CC: South Asian Focus, 09.09.09

(see Kolkata's turn comes even after Chandigarh)

Gerald Keddy, Parliamentary Secretary to Stockwell Day, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, has concluded a successful visit to India, where he opened a new Canadian trade office in Kolkata, a dynamic business, transportation and financial hub and the country's fourth-largest city.
"Our new office in Kolkata will give Canadian companies another competitive edge in one of our priority markets and further strengthen our commercial relationship with India," said Keddy.

"I am proud to say that the addition of this new office in India will create one of Canada's most extensive trade networks anywhere in the world."

With existing trade offices in Hyderabad, New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh, this enlarged network will provide market intelligence and expert advice to help Canadian companies take advantage of trade and investment opportunities.

Keddy visited Kolkata before attending a ministerial-level meeting on the World Trade Organization Doha Development Round, held Sept 3 and 4 in New Delhi.

"Canada continues to support an ambitious and balanced outcome to the Doha negotiations. Canadian agricultural producers, manufacturers and service providers stand to benefit from the expanded access to global markets and strengthened trade rules arising from successful negotiations," said Keddy.

Keddy's visit builds upon a trade mission led by Minister Day in January, during which the Minister announced an agreement to initiate exploratory discussions toward a comprehensive economic partnership agreement between Canada and India.

Keddy also reinforced Minister Day's commitment to sign a Canada-India Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA) as soon as possible.

India is a dynamic, rapidly growing market that represents a huge opportunity for Canadian goods, services and technology. In 2008, Canadian merchandise exports to India totalled $2.4 billion, a 35 per cent increase over the year before. Two-way direct investment reached $1.8 billion in 2008.


McGuinty plans second India tour Dec

Premier Dalton McGuinty is leading a trade mission to India in December to promote Ontario's innovative companies, attract investment and turn bright ideas into new green jobs.

The delegation will include representatives from Ontario's leading clean tech companies and focus on how the province's green solutions can help India grow sustainably.

The week-long mission will include stops in New Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad.

India's economy is one of the largest and fastest growing in the world.

India recently introduced a National Plan To Fight Climate Change, focusing on clean, renewable energy sources and increased energy efficiency. Their efforts to fight global warming have boosted investment in climate-friendly projects, creating opportunities for Ontario companies.

Second tour

McGuinty visited India and Pakistan on an eight-day trade mission in 2007, with 100 Â Ontarians from 87 organizations.

Ontario has 2,600 environmental technology companies. Â

The government has invested more than $600 million in  research projects and companies working on green technologies since 2003. Â

McGuinty visit to India early December this year will hence be his second trade mission to the Subcontinent.

He will begin his trip on Sunday, December 6.

The tour will take in a number of cities all over India, including New Delhi, Mumbai and Hydrabad.

The focus of his trip will be to promote Ontario's green technology companies in India to help bring more 'green' jobs to Ontario.

The focus during this trip will be more on business and trade.

Officials said there will be fewer cultural visits and more business meetings, during the course of the trip.

HOLD IT

i am so confused. the media needs to get a grip on their retarded story.

NEW TOWN is not getting scrapped. It has already been conceived and built.

what's getting scrapped is the Dankuni township..right guys?

pictured below:
http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/6868/image10nn2.jpg

and also another land-art that included the Bengal World Center

^^yes, Dankuni has been scrapped and there is no news of the signature Biswa Banga Shikhar (aka World Bengal Tower)

Hi Sun,
I like your analysis of vedic village events!

Finally the media is asking some questions that we have been asking in this forum!

Rich but hungry for cheap land

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/7377/infosys.jpg (http://img143.imageshack.us/i/infosys.jpg/)

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090911/jsp/frontpage/story_11480377.jsp

Calcutta, Sept. 10: The aborted IT township in Rajarhat has exposed the shortcomings of the government and private land collectors but it has left undisturbed another stakeholder: information technology giants.

With land becoming the most sensitive — and scarce — asset in a business enterprise, a logical question that few dare to ask is why cash-rich land-seekers such as Infosys and Wipro cannot pay the market price for space.

In Rajarhat, both Infosys and Wipro were once offered Hidco land but the deal fell through because of differences over price. The two infotech behemoths were apparently willing to pay only Rs 40-50 lakh an acre.

“Seeking land at such a low rate is in effect a demand to subsidise these rich companies by the government and the original owners of the land, which in many cases are farmers,” said a realtor.

After Infosys and Wipro declined to pay, TCS, the infotech titan, did pick up land in Rajarhat. “We negotiated with the government for the price of the land and Rs 1.5 crore was acceptable to us,” Ajoyendra Mukherjee of TCS said.

Not that Rs 1.5 crore was a great bargain for the government. In 2006, a private developer paid Rs 4.6 crore an acre for a 10-acre plot in Rajarhat to build an IT park. In 2008, a telecom giant paid Rs 8 crore an acre for three acres in Rajarhat for its own use.

Ask why Infosys should not pay a similar amount, it becomes clear that cut-throat competition among states is the main reason. It is another question whether companies that stress on corporate social responsibility should not be casting themselves as role models by paying the market price which the government should hand over to their original, and mostly less fortunate, owners.

Asked why the Bengal government should provide land at a discount, Kris Gopalakrishnan, CEO and managing director of Infosys, referred to the “multiple choices” and the potential to create jobs.

“Companies like Infosys have multiple choices in cities to expand. Most governments are willing to subsidise in this competitive environment because of the job creation potential of the IT industry. Some studies show that 40 per cent of new jobs created in urban areas were created directly or indirectly by the IT industry. We have to look at the best combination of access to talent, support from the government and price when we look at a new location to expand,” Gopalakrishnan said in an email to The Telegraph in reply to a questionnaire.

Wipro did not give a specific answer to a similar question. “Wipro already has a presence in Bengal and we have adequate space for our current operations. We are committed to have a continued presence here,” Laxman Badiga of Wipro Technologies said.

Information technology does create jobs but the availability of large space is not a big factor. A real estate developer said no more than 5 acres would be required to create 5,000 seats — the number of jobs Infosys and Wipro had each promised initially.

If infotech companies opt for “vertical” development — as opposed to horizontal construction over sprawling grounds complete with golf courses — they can save space, industry analysts said (see chart). In March 2007, of the 784 acres Infosys had in the country, 247 acres were set aside for greenbelts.
“The kind of assets these IT companies hold will certainly make them eligible (to be called) national real estate players,” said Abhijit Das, a property consultant.

Absolutely true,Infosys is not an NGO that bengal government will should provide it acres of prime real estate at subsidised rate.Infosys is not the end of the IT industry in bengal,there are millions of sq ft of IT space under development in sector V and rajarhat.It will surely attract other players.

After Infosys and Wipro declined to pay, TCS, the infotech titan, did pick up land in Rajarhat. “We negotiated with the government for the price of the land and Rs 1.5 crore was acceptable to us,” Ajoyendra Mukherjee of TCS said.

Not that Rs 1.5 crore was a great bargain for the government. In 2006, a private developer paid Rs 4.6 crore an acre for a 10-acre plot in Rajarhat to build an IT park. In 2008, a telecom giant paid Rs 8 crore an acre for three acres in Rajarhat for its own use.

In Rajarhat, both Infosys and Wipro were once offered Hidco land but the deal fell through because of differences over price. The two infotech behemoths were apparently willing to pay only Rs 40-50 lakh an acre.

Its a boon in disguise that the state govt. has declined to comply with demands of these two IT giants(read real estate agents). They wanted the land at much cheaper rates than what they had paid for land in TN and Karnataka. One thing also to be noted here that the lands in Rajarhat and adjoining areas are fertile agricultural lands in comparision to barren and less productive lands in other states.

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/7285/ambit.jpg (http://img10.imageshack.us/i/ambit.jpg/)

Any update info for these two IT parks??......

Image Source: http://www.bengalambuja.com/projects/office/index.asp#AmbujaITParkIIISaltLake

Its a boon in disguise that the state govt. has declined to comply with demands of these two IT giants(read real estate agents). They wanted the land at much cheaper rates than what they had paid for land in TN and Karnataka. One thing also to be noted here that the lands in Rajarhat and adjoining areas are fertile agricultural lands in comparision to barren and less productive lands in other states.

^^@Samrt - all that is fine, but the bottom line is govt failed to deliver on commitment

Believe me, it is not a boon in disguise, since WB needs jobs, jobs and more jobs. The sheer numbers by these two companies would have given rise to a large number of indirect jobs that typically people from the neighbouring areas/villages could have had and could have eventually raised their standard of living.

^^@Samrt - all that is fine, but the bottom line is govt failed to deliver on commitment

Believe me, it is not a boon in disguise, since WB needs jobs, jobs and more jobs. The sheer numbers by these two companies would have given rise to a large number of indirect jobs that typically people from the neighbouring areas/villages could have had and could have eventually raised their standard of living.
I fully agree with @arijeet.

no one can take away the land from one place to another - but they just want to develop it in a nice way and make it available for the top class work force - so that they continue to work there and live at the same town/city for a longer time. then what are those indirect jobs - most of us know, but just for the arguments sake, I felt like writing down a little bit (please pardon me, if it looks exaggerated) :

5000 high class apartments could be built and/or sold to those who got employed there
5000 high class families could support their parents/brothers/sisters in several ways - building houses, finance for higher education, help in business etc
5000 high class families spend lots and lots of money - cloths, food, vegetables, servant maids, cleaners, suppliers, transportation workers, taxies, state taxes, municipal taxes, entertainment - more money spent in one area means more overall development in that area - means more jobs for skilled, unskilled, organized and un-organized labor
and better schools will come up, better hotels will come up, more ppl from out-of-state visit here, and again more money is spent here, again more development here ....
most of us understand this - thats why certain state govts are crazy about wooing such big IT companies to their states (giving land at lower prices, tax breaks, power at lower cost, water at lower cost etc) ... its a very good thing for the city and the state, especially in the long run ...
offering land at lower prices is some kind of investment by the state govt for long term overall development of the city/state ...
this is just another way of looking at this ...

i understand the sentiment but whats wrong with building tall 100 stories skyscrapers in central Kolkata?

i understand the sentiment but whats wrong with building tall 100 stories skyscrapers in central Kolkata?
that is a good question.

perhaps, 10-20-30 years from now, that would be the trend - until then, if these big time IT companies find a better offer else where, they would rather take their business to that place ... its easy for them to start their new shops wherever (which ever metro, for example) because human resources are easily transportable/re-locatable, compared to other major physical resources (or even cultivable, so-to-say, by encouraging some local colleges/institutions/universities - where ever they open shop).
just to cite one example, there are more IT professionals from WB working in the southern states, than the other way around at present -
the same trend would continue perhaps, if WB doesn't do any thing to change that trend ...

its only upto WB to determine which way to take...

that is a good question.

perhaps, 10-20-30 years from now, that would be the trend - until then, if these big time IT companies find a better offer else where, they would rather take their business to that place ... its easy for them to start their new shops wherever (which ever metro, for example) because human resources are easily transportable/re-locatable, compared to other major physical resources (or even cultivable, so-to-say, by encouraging some local colleges/institutions/universities - where ever they open shop).
just to cite one example, there are more IT professionals from WB working in the southern states, than the other way around at present - the same trend would continue perhaps, if WB doesn't do any thing to change that trend ...

its only upto WB to determine which way to take...
nice rebuttal

but the decision as it has become apparent no longer lies with the state government but with the citizens of the state. However, I think that at this point, the state could use some federal intervention given the overwhelming number of farmers(rich or poor) who are allowed to vote in state elections.

What does Infosys (or any other company) want? They need good human resources, sufficient workspace, good infrastructure.

It is well known that they can easily accomodate 5000 people in a few 'world class' highrise buildings spread over a fraction of acres of land than what they are demanding.

Obviously Infosys is spoilt for choice. Many states (and maybe even countries) will probably fall head over heels to give free land, free power and may even be ready to boot the salaries of the workers just to get the Infosys cap on their head. All this can be spinned as 'investment' on the part of the state to create jobs. In some ways it can be justified as part of the 'multiplier effect' or the 'trickle down' theory.

If a state has the land bank and the finances to subsidize such demands from companies like Infosys, I don't think anyone should object.

However if there is a shortage of huge chunks of land to build two storey sprawls, I think there should be some flexibilty from the side of the companies as well.

Someone explain to me how will Infosys lose out if they have to build four 20 storey towers in place of twenty 4 storey buildings? I think it is a win win situation for all parties - Infosys, the state and its people.

So I think the state should approach Infosys and any other prospective investing companies by laying out on the table the unavailabilty of huge land chunks. The state should improve the infrastructure and quality of education and sell these points as well.

Of course if a company is hell bent on 300 acres when it can do with 25 acres, then nothing is going to work out. There should always be some flexibility from all sides. Rigidity never helps in the long run.

I think every right thinking person in West Bengal wants Infosys to open shop in the state. Even Miss Mamata wants them to come to the state! The company should take advantage of the goodwill and start small - say on 20-25 acres of land. The opposition should stop trying to act as an obstruction to the development of the state.

And maybe even the Tatas can come back to Singur and open a Nano assembly plant!

Bengal housing minister's proposal


http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Infotech/Software/Bengal-housing-minister-has-alternative-site-for-Wipro-Infy/articleshow/5001651.cms

West Bengal housing minister Goutam Deb on Friday told the state CPM leadership he was ready to offer 10 acres each in Rajarhat to Wipro
and Infosys as alternative land following the scrapping of the IT township project.

Mr Deb announced his proposal at the CPM secretariat meeting on Friday. But since chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee did not attend the meeting, as he was stuck in Siliguri, the state party leadership did not take any decision on Mr Deb’s proposal.

Mr Deb later told reporters that he would discuss the issue with IT minister Debesh Das and “I am ready to inform Wipro and Infosys about our government’s plans to offer alternate land once the proposal given by me is cleared by the chief minister”.

Sources in the state IT department, however , said the two major IT giants may not agree to have 10 acres each as they wish to set up IT SEZs in order to get tax benefits from the government. “For SEZ status, the project needs to come up over at least 25 acres. Moreover, the two IT units are not interested in setting up towers, which they have said several times during past interactions . Instead, they want to set up their own campus,” said a senior official.

“To get the status of IT SEZ, both Wipro and Infosys would require at least 25 acres each and we don’t think our government’s proposal for 10 acres would be accepted by the two IT giants . However, if the chief minister ratifies the housing department’s proposal, the IT department will surely send the new proposal to Infosys and Wipro,” IT department sources said.

Diamond City West, Behala

photos from Diamond Group website

http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/4694/diamondbehala.jpg (http://img170.imageshack.us/i/diamondbehala.jpg/)

Nice to see their sense of unity unshaken, even in much news of uncertainty surrounding their neighborhood.

Ujjawala, Rajarhat (CR:eopportunity2003's photostream at flickr)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2560/3858896029_e89d4373a9_b.jpg

^^@Samrt - all that is fine, but the bottom line is govt failed to deliver on commitment

Believe me, it is not a boon in disguise, since WB needs jobs, jobs and more jobs. The sheer numbers by these two companies would have given rise to a large number of indirect jobs that typically people from the neighbouring areas/villages could have had and could have eventually raised their standard of living.



WB needs jobs ..but that cannot be at the expense of poor people. Infosys has to understand that land is scarce near Kolkata, and if they need 90 acres of land they need to go to Kalyani or some place far away from Kolkata, or for that matter any major city.

As for commitment, the govt has taken vote from the people of West Bengal and its first responsibility is to be towards the people. The commitment to Infosys does not matter if it goes against the will of the people.

I still do not understand why Infosys is not ready for high towers in and around Kolkata.

Here are few pics of Olive gardens, Bungalow township at rajarhat. It is being developed by The Canopy Group and marketed by Bhuwalka estates. Please go to the link below:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42246125@N08/?saved=1

Does anyone has idea about how the recent IT Township cancellation would affect the viability of the Oilve Gardens housing project by Canopy Group?

Thanks.

Here are few pics of Olive gardens, Bungalow township at rajarhat. It is being developed by The Canopy Group and marketed by Bhuwalka estates. Please go to the link below:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42246125@N08/?saved=1

Does anyone has idea about how the recent IT Township cancellation would affect the viability of the Kolkata Rajarhat Newtown Olive Gardens housing project by Canopy Group?

Thanks.

How would the cancellation of IT township project affect the Olive Gardens housing project in Rajarhat Newtown? Is it still viable project? Is there now a danger that the people who bought land with Olive Gardens project may lose their plots?

Discussion/reply much appreciated!

WB needs jobs ..but that cannot be at the expense of poor people. Infosys has to understand that land is scarce near Kolkata, and if they need 90 acres of land they need to go to Kalyani or some place far away from Kolkata, or for that matter any major city.

As for commitment, the govt has taken vote from the people of West Bengal and its first responsibility is to be towards the people. The commitment to Infosys does not matter if it goes against the will of the people.

I still do not understand why Infosys is not ready for high towers in and around Kolkata.

Please tell me how can we have Wipro/Infy setting up offices in Kalyani when it would take hours to commute to Kolkata or the airport?

Creating jobs for the youth is the most important criteria. People whose land is being procured should be compensated handsomely and family members should be offered jobs in the facilities that are coming up. There are many more livelihoods that can be generated by setting up industry in the land than if were left as a cultivation land. Even within farming families with every generation the land gets further divided and hence each member has lesser amount of land than their previous generation. In a populous country like India it is not a sustainable to have farming in land that can be prime industrial facility creating many more jobs.

Anyways, this protest culture was all started by CPIM in the seventies and now Trinamool is only following in CPIM footsteps to permanently ruin Bengal's industrial and job creation prospects. The king is dead, long live the king!

Please tell me how can we have Wipro/Infy setting up offices in Kalyani when it would take hours to commute to Kolkata or the airport?

Creating jobs for the youth is the most important criteria. People whose land is being procured should be compensated handsomely and family members should be offered jobs in the facilities that are coming up. There are many more livelihoods that can be generated by setting up industry in the land than if were left as a cultivation land. Even within farming families with every generation the land gets further divided and hence each member has lesser amount of land than their previous generation. In a populous country like India it is not a sustainable to have farming in land that can be prime industrial facility creating many more jobs.

Anyways, this protest culture was all started by CPIM in the seventies and now Trinamool is only following in CPIM footsteps to permanently ruin Bengal's industrial and job creation prospects. The king is dead, long live the king!

I am not sure Wipro/Infy will solve job issues for Bengal, I think bengalis have to create job oppurtunitites and not wait for Infy/Wipro to come and solve their problems.

Looks at Bangalore, companies like Wipro and Infosys were created out of there. It is the entreprenaul spirit which created so many jobs. Bengal has to come up with more entrepreneurship to solve this problem. If you cannot do that you will have to bow down to non local companies will come only for their business purpose.

Date:13/09/2009 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/09/13/stories/2009091351000300.htm
Scrapping of IT township project disappoints Bengal’s youth
A. Roy Chowdhury == Manish Basu == Shobha Kannan
Kolkata, Sept. 12 The recent scrapping of the IT township project by the West Bengal government and the cancellation of land allotment to IT majors such as Infosys and Wipro have come as a heartbreaking news to youngsters in Kolkata.

They feel this would deprive them of adequate career options and force them to move out in search of better opportunities. The proposed IT township project was expected to generate employment for nearly 10,000 IT professionals... Says 27-year-old software professional V. Gopalakrishnan, originally a resident of Kolkata but who migrated to Chennai for work four years ago, “I have been scouting for a job back home so that I can stay with my family. But now I am reconsidering my decision to relocate, as there are very few options for growth here. Even if I come back to Kolkata it will be difficult to change jobs and look for better alternatives as easily as in Chennai.” Many other youngsters also echo similar views. Says 21-year-old engineering student Kamlesh Rao (name changed), “There was already very limited scope for engineering and software professionals in Kolkata. However, I was hopeful of bagging some good offers if these two IT giants set-up shop in the city. But now my dreams are shattered. Though they might consider coming back in the near future, I might have to move out once I finish my course as I have taken an educational loan and have to start repaying it soon.”

Parents of engineering graduates and other professionals who have taken jobs outside the State are feeling helpless at the job scenario here... “Bengalis are usually reluctant to send their children outside. But now I can see a marked shift in their mindset as they have come to terms with the fact that their wards have to move out once they finish education in order to get good jobs,” says a parent. Joy Karmakar, a fourth-year student of Jadavpur University’s Civil Engineering Department, has another take on the issue: “Even if Infosys and Wipro set up new campuses, we would think twice before joining the IT sector, given the risk of termination and salary cuts in IT jobs these days.” Most would prefer to stick to non-IT jobs instead. The number of students joining the IT sector from other streams has decreased significantly in recent times.

“The job market is spread over the entire country now and students are no more hesitant to leave the State,” says A.F. Mollah, a Ph.D. scholar at the University’s Computer Science Department. He adds that only 20 per cent of students currently take up their first job in Kolkata, as against nearly 50 per cent earlier. However, institutes such as IIM-Calcutta do not see the temporary stepping back of Infosys and Wipro as a major hurdle to the job scenario. “There will be no direct repercussion of this on IIM-C as our students are picked up by companies worldwide,” says Mr Prafulla Agnihotri, Chairperson, Career Development and Placement, IIM-C.

Mr Siddhartha Dutta, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Academics, Jadavpur University and Chairman, Joint Entrance Examination, has a mixed reaction to the withdrawal of the project... “Though there may be a psychological setback, the incident will not result in material loss as this is not the end of the road for IT companies vis-À-vis West Bengal,” as engineering students often take up jobs outside the State... “The big IT companies that are already present in West Bengal also have a considerable number of employees from other parts of the country,” he says. But the scrapping of such projects would surely deter the future growth of the State, he adds. Mr Suparno Moitra, who heads Nasscom’s Kolkata office, says while the issue of land was critical for growth of IT in the State, a bigger concern was unavailability of industry-ready skilled workforce. “Out of the 19,000 engineering students graduating from the State every year, only about 4,000 are employable.”

Kolkata currently has 50,000 IT professionals, of whom 80 per cent work in major IT companies such as TCS, Cognizant, IBM, Tech Mahindra, Wipro and HSBC’s IT arm, he adds. “IT professionals will be deterred from working in their home State unless there are vertical and horizontal growth opportunities, which can only happen with opening of new IT campuses...

http://beacononline.wordpress.com/2009/09/12/bengal-buddhadebs-absence-fuels-speculation-of-rift-with-party/ == just a rumor, I hope ...
BENGAL: Buddhadeb’s absence fuels speculation of rift with party
Posted by barunroy on September 12, 2009
The Telegraph (via Rediff):
‘Feeling fine’, Buddha tiptoes through meet
OUR BUREAU
Calcutta/Siliguri, Sept. 12: Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, looking tired and walking slowly, returned to Calcutta today from north Bengal “feeling fine” and straightaway headed to a fairground for an inauguration.

Bhattacharjee had spent the past four days at a forest resthouse in Mongpong, about 30km from Siliguri, addressing a rally and holding a meeting but generally recovering from ill health.

“I’m now feeling fine; very good,” he told reporters after inaugurating a textile fair at Milon Mela this afternoon. “I spent a pleasant vacation.”

Bhattacharjee, accompanied by wife Meera, drove to the venue from the airport after his flight from Bagdogra landed. Coughing occasionally during his brief speech, he did not mention the setbacks over Wipro and Infosys.

Instead, he said: “Small and medium industry too employs lakhs of people; it isn’t only the big ones that do so. The handicrafts and textile sectors too employ a large number of people.” ...

I am not sure Wipro/Infy will solve job issues for Bengal, I think bengalis have to create job oppurtunitites and not wait for Infy/Wipro to come and solve their problems.

Looks at Bangalore, companies like Wipro and Infosys were created out of there. It is the entreprenaul spirit which created so many jobs. Bengal has to come up with more entrepreneurship to solve this problem. If you cannot do that you will have to bow down to non local companies will come only for their business purpose.

Yeah, Mamata Banerjee will help every Bengali guy and gal set up his or her own moodi shop, job problem solved and every farmer lives happily ever after living off his land. No need to Tata or Infosys to set up shop in Bengal.

We shall see how Ms. Banerjee does it, she will have her cake and eat it too just as she is doing with the railways.

Hint at effort to get land for Infy
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Calcutta, Sept. 13: CPM politburo member Sitaram Yechury today indicated that the state government would try to ensure land for Infosys and Wipro in Bengal but defended the scrapping of the IT township supposed to host them.

“We would have liked them to be here and let’s see if in some way they can remain here. I think both the companies want to stay here,” Yechury told reporters in Calcutta on the way to the Northeast.

The IT township project was scrapped after murky land deals by the state government’s two partners in it, including the promoters of Vedic Village, came to the fore. “We know how the land was being acquired there,” Yechury said.

Housing minister Gautam Deb has offered to make room for the two IT giants at New Town, Rajarhat, promising 10 acres each to them close to the airport for multi-storeyed “towers”. However, many are sceptical about whether the firms would be interested in 10 acres when they had wanted 90.

Assam is said to have already invited the two companies to invest in that state. Yechury said: “We hope it doesn’t happen. If Bengal becomes a loser, we know why it is a loser.”

He left no doubt that his finger was pointing towards the Trinamul Congress, which was accused of driving out Tata Motors from Singur last year and whose leaders were said to have been involved in the Vedic land deals. However, he was evasive on the Opposition’s role in Rajarhat, apparently because the CPM knows it won’t be able to get away from the mess blaming the Opposition alone.

Yechury said: “We have seen it in case of Nano. Now we see it... not only in Vedic Village but also in what came out later….”

Mamata Banerjee iterated her demand that Infosys and Wipro be provided alternative land in Rajarhat. “The government has thousands of acres at New Town,” she said.
source: The Telegraph (via Rediff)

Yeah, Mamata Banerjee will help every Bengali guy and gal set up his or her own moodi shop, job problem solved and every farmer lives happily ever after living off his land. No need to Tata or Infosys to set up shop in Bengal.

We shall see how Ms. Banerjee does it, she will have her cake and eat it too just as she is doing with the railways.

I feel you are being too simplistic. To me CPIM and TC are 2 sides of the same coin. They are both looking for political advantage.
My point is why cant a Infy or Wipro come out of Kolkata ? Why should we have to wait for goverment to give land to these companies and wait for when they will favour us.

... why cant a Infy or Wipro come out of Kolkata ? Why should we have to wait for goverment to give land to these companies and wait for when they will favour us.

thats a nice argument. if I remember correctly, Infy and Wipro have started some time during the 80s. and there were at least 20 other computer based companies that also started around the same time in India - but today, most of those 20 companies are no where near these two (some of them have completely vanished). so it took at least 20 - 25 years for Infy and Wipro to get where they got today.

so, chances are, if we start 10-20 new IT companies today in WB, 1-2 of them might become big in the next 20-25 years. looks like a good plan. but the only problem is, starting new IT companies is not that easy. we need some highly talented ppl backed by some strong financial power house and still, there are too many parameters that are outside the control of ppl or govts or politics ... don't know, what is more do-able ... may be, we can just wait and see - just my thoughts...

I doubt there is any shortage of entrepreneurship in the state. In the small and micro industry sector there are close to 9 lakh units in the state. These generate 50% of the state's industrial production and 38% of the exports.

It may be a surprise, but the state has the third largest number of registered companies listed by shares.

However what may be lacking is proper support for such industries which leads to large scale failures. Proper education for entrepreneurs is needed. Maybe the government needs to introduce basic courses in the schools about simple economics and accounting. Even guidelines on how to open a small shop/trading unit, maintain accounts, where to get funding etc. would be great.

The bureaucracy , the politburo and the state's political parties have hampered entrepreneurship by erecting barricades rather than provide a helping hand. This definitely needs to change.

The bureaucrats need to stop sleeping, the politicians need to stop their bandhs, strikes and indulge in militant trade union activities. They have to improve the business environment of the state which has a lot of potential.

Infosys Technologies Ltd today said that "company is not moving its West Bengal project at this point and also not planning to set up new facilities". The company would focus only on expanding the existing facilities, with an investment of around Rs 600 crore, said S Gopalakrishnan, chief executive officer and managing director Infosys Technologies

Speaking to Business Standard at the sidelines of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII’s) two day event on ICT he said that “the project (in West Bengal) has went into trouble and we were also going slow due to the global economic slow down. “We have decided to go slow in any new projects and will focus only on expanding the existing facilities. We will consider going back to West Bengal, if only the government gives us new proposal." ............

Source: Business Standard

^^ screw them

screw them...we want Bengali and European companies only.

infosys and wipros are scumbags.

The scrapping of the 1,200-acre IT township next to Vedic Village has sent city developers scurrying to draw up demands for some fundamental chop and change to allow them safety nets in salvaging the brick-and-mortar industry, “the second-largest job creator in the state and anchor to 300 downstream industries”.

Credai Bengal is chalking out a three-pronged proposal document, based on success stories in other states, that will first be taken to the chambers of commerce and then to Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Mamata Banerjee.

The aim is to simplify things and give the realtor the option of not getting his hands dirty with land acquisition or burning his hands over failed government promises.

Credai document will demand: simplification of laws (urban land ceiling Act scrapped by most states to be relaxed/repealed) so that like in other states, land aggregators come into play; the government fix land price for all projects approved by it and administrative support to deal with local elements.

Source: The Telegraph

Please tell me how can we have Wipro/Infy setting up offices in Kalyani when it would take hours to commute to Kolkata or the airport?

Who said it takes hours to reach Kolkata or the airport from Kalyani. I don't think it takes more than one hour to reach to the NSCB international airport from Kalyani. It does not take more than 25 minutes from Barasat to Kalyani via Barrackpur-Kalyani expressway by car. And Barasat to Dumdum is hardly half an hour away. The Kalyani-Barrakpur expressway and NH 34 should have been made 4 lanes years ago to cut short travelling time. But unfortunately, it could not be done for lack of vision and willingness.

Kalyani is linked with Kolkata both by road and rail. By train it takes more or less one hour to reach Sealdah(45 kms.)

The distance between Kalyani and Kolkata(Esplanade) is less than that of Mumbai and Thane and almost equal to IGI and Greater Noida. But due to poor infrastructure in and around Kalyani it remains like a distand island.

The vision and dream of Dr.Bidhan Roy could not be fulfilled even after 47 years of his death:ohno:

The state urban development department is not keen on accommodating the two IT giants — Wipro and Infosys — in town, despite the fact that it has a few hundred acres of land around the city. The department instead is interested in auctioning the land, which it thinks will fetch more funds.
Things, however, may change if chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee decides to the contrary.
KMDA officials concede that earnings from the handover of land to IT companies will be nowhere close to proceeds from an auction. All land records were broken in 2005 when an acre-wide plot off EM Bypass sold for Rs 33 crore for a five-star hotel project. “IT companies as big as Infosys or Wipro, which require more than 60 acres to set up their units, will not pay more than a maximum of Rs 3-4 crore per acre. Government agencies such as KMDA and KMC have found that it is far more lucrative to sell plots for real estate projects than for IT hub projects,” an official said.
In fact, KMDA had originally planned to hand over the 100 acres it has at Nonadanga for the creation of an IT hub. But after realizing that a lot more revenue could be earned by bidding the plot, it planned to have a business park on the land. The bidding process for the project was scheduled in late 2007. But the authorities stepped back as the economic slowdown had set in. The land is yet to be sold.
In such circumstances, it is only in Rajarhat — which is under the jurisdiction of Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (Hidco) — where the price of an acre of land is fixed around Rs 1.9 crore for commercial projects. Hidco chairman and housing minister Gautam Deb has expressed interest in allotting 10 acres each to Infosys and Wipro in New Town. But IT industry officials are sceptical about the proposal, saying none of the two companies would possibly settle for so little land when they were asking for 90 acres each in Rajarhat.
Land available in Rajarhat falls under Bhangar-Rajarhat Area Development Authority (Brada). But after the Vedic Village land row, developers are likely to be cautious about buying a plot there unless the government comes up with a transparent process of handing over plots. Also, with Brada not fixing a price for land in its jurisdiction, auctioning plots seems a much more viable option.
KMDA has around 250 acres in and around the city. It has lost track of some 150 acres and is trying to retrieve the same. Also, there are around 33 small plots measuring 20-30 cottahs each, which are lying unutilized in Sector V.

Source: TOI

The bureaucrats need to stop sleeping, the politicians need to stop their bandhs, strikes and indulge in militant trade union activities. They have to improve the business environment of the state which has a lot of potential.

Yes Suncity. Besides, hardcore trade unions also need their wings to be clipped

Who said it takes hours to reach Kolkata or the airport from Kalyani. I don't think it takes more than one hour to reach to the NSCB international airport from Kalyani. It does not take more than 25 minutes from Barasat to Kalyani via Barrackpur-Kalyani expressway by car. And Barasat to Dumdum is hardly half an hour away. The Kalyani-Barrakpur expressway and NH 34 should have been made 4 lanes years ago to cut short travelling time. But unfortunately, it could not be done for lack of vision and willingness.

Kalyani is linked with Kolkata both by road and rail. By train it takes more or less one hour to reach Sealdah(45 kms.)

The distance between Kalyani and Kolkata(Esplanade) is less than that of Mumbai and Thane and almost equal to IGI and Greater Noida. But due to poor infrastructure in and around Kalyani it remains like a distand island.

The vision and dream of Dr.Bidhan Roy could not be fulfilled even after 47 years of his death:ohno:

The township of Kalyani have lot of potentials. But lack of visionary politicians have reduced it to a small "probasi bengali" enclave. I would like to to see this town to be a center of IT, biotech and phamacuticals and fine chemicals industry . And all closed jute mills arround it should be removed.It is well connected by rail and road to Kolkata. It has its own unused runway nearby and very close to NSCBI airport. No wonder American troops set up a major logistic hub here during WWII !

There is a need to build a four lane expressway between Kolkata and Kalyani. Who knows if they want to widen the current two lane expressway, Miss Mamata will start another agitation (her party has stalled almost all major highway expansions in the state).

While Kalyani is 'planned', it's internal roads are pretty narrow. It has plenty of pretty houses, but is more like a bedroom suburb rather than being what Pune is to Mumbai.

Also most glam IT companies would rather be in Sector V or New Town because that's where most upwardly mobile tech professionals would like to be.

Land acquisition may be a difficult proposition in West Bengal, but in this part of the state, the story is entirely different.
The CPM in Burdwan is under severe pressure — not because land is being taken over for industry, but just the opposite. Local people in and around Panagarh want the acquisition to take place faster.
Owners of plots under four mouzas — Kanksha, Pondali, Soyai and Shyamsundar, about 15 km from Durgapur and covering nearly 5,000 acre — had given petitions two years ago to the then DM for parting with their land as it’s not fertile.
With some parts of the area chosen for industrial projects, including an integrated steel plant and a power plant, the acquisition process has started in some of the mouzas, but not all. The ripple effect of Singur and Nandigram was felt here, too, and in the past 18 months, progress has been slow. But now, the district CPM has gone into a tizzy because farmers are pressuring them, saying they “do not want to be deprived” and want the land acquisition done quickly.
According to officials, the average market price of the land here is Rs 1.5-2 lakh per acre. But after a series of discussions with farmers and political parties, the price of land the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) is offering them has even gone up to Rs 10.8 lakh per acre in some places.

Source: TOI

Representatives of a private company from Bangkok — with a partner in Hyderabad — made a presentation before state transport minister Ranjit Kundu on the ambitious ring road project on Monday.
The project, costing a whopping Rs 8,250 crore, is being discussed for the past two years. But the government is finding it extremely tough to push it further.
State transport department officials are tightlipped about the amount the company would invest and how much of the total cost it would meet. But they conceded that a system needs to be evolved in order to make them raise the cost. A toll might be imposed on the road to raise the cost. Moreover, it is also to be decided on how the remaining cost would be arranged.
The elevated ring road would encircle the city, connecting Rajarhat, airport, Salt Lake, Shyambazar, Burrabazar, Howrah, Vidyasagar Setu, Behala, Tollygunge, Kalighat, Park Circus, Baghajatin, Dhapa at one go, covering a stretch of 40.3 km. The road has been planned as a six-lane one. Though the time to complete the project has been fixed at 48 months, it has not yet been decided when it would actually take off.
“We have not yet reached the stage of preparing the detailed project report. There are some hurdles that need to be sorted out first. But the private company is very keen to invest in the project,” a senior official said.

Source: TOI

Land acquisition may be a difficult proposition in West Bengal, but in this part of the state, the story is entirely different.

....
Source: TOI

will mamta stage a protest against the CPI(M) for not acquiring the land this time?

i understand the sentiment but whats wrong with building tall 100 stories skyscrapers in central Kolkata?

One major issue in Kolkata is the condition of the soil. Tall buildings need major foundations. In a city like New York - this is much easier as the soil is very hard and often pure bedrock. Kolkata has mushy soil and requires large spread footings or piles to be driven in order to stabilize the building. 100 stories would probably be cost prohibitive. 30 stories might even be hard to pull off financially.

In addition, the central business district is largely being abandoned by new construction of this sort because it's cheaper to build outside of the city (land, construction, large areas for parking, etc).

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/5607/enclave.jpg (http://img19.imageshack.us/i/enclave.jpg/)

G+6, 14 Blocks, 317 apartments

will mamta stage a protest against the CPI(M) for not acquiring the land this time?

:lol:you never know - Didibhai is quite capable

One major issue in Kolkata is the condition of the soil. Tall buildings need major foundations. In a city like New York - this is much easier as the soil is very hard and often pure bedrock. Kolkata has mushy soil and requires large spread footings or piles to be driven in order to stabilize the building. 100 stories would probably be cost prohibitive. 30 stories might even be hard to pull off financially.

In addition, the central business district is largely being abandoned by new construction of this sort because it's cheaper to build outside of the city (land, construction, large areas for parking, etc).

is this true?

south city is a success. I am banking on Kolkata to pull of such success.

is this true?

south city is a success. I am banking on Kolkata to pull of such success.

It is true as a general rule for the area.

When developing a site, the first thing you do is get some soil testing done to see what your foundations will have to be like. There are a few pockets where the soil is better than others. OR you can add a lot of other "money makers" to the project to justify the additional expense on foundations. If South City was just housing, it would have never moved forward. The mall, hospital, etc. all helped make the proforma work out.

Does that mean that we CAN'T have tall buildings in Kolkata? Not at all. It just means that projects have to be more creative about how they structure things and what to include as a mixed use development.

I assume that 100 stories was an exaggeration as very few cities in the world sport such towers, but a series of 30 story buildings could be done with the right clients and right usage.

In the wake of West Bengal scraping a proposed IT township project after a land scam at Vedic Village, industry body Nasscom today said the state government should provide land to IT companies from its real estate pool.
“The government has enough land. It has land in Rajarhat township, but it is meant for real estate. Government has to choose whether it wants employment by offering land to IT companies or just make buildings,” Nasscom Eastern Regional Council chairman Mr VVR Babu told reports on the sidelines of a CEOs summit here, organised by Nasscom in the city this morning.
Mr Som Mittal, Nasscom president said, the state government's decision of scrapping the projects of these two major companies disappointed the IT community nationwide and hoped that the government would take some steps to restore the image of the state as a proper destination for investment in the IT sector.

Source: The Statesman

Without a vibrant IT industry who is going to live in New Town highrise buildings. It is a good idea to give some land to IT companies then build the housing complexes.

Cglassy lookin'. Wonder what's up with the character dangling on the right side building! :ohno:

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_N0ccx1yBPHc/SrG4r0SXYuI/AAAAAAAAAS0/eTiTQ0ej_vU/s640/citycenter2_sep09.jpg

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_N0ccx1yBPHc/SrG4sH4A1ZI/AAAAAAAAAS4/siG-xynh_zM/s640/hilandwoods_sep09.jpg

I am still hazy about this project. But it sure seems to be taking shape!

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_N0ccx1yBPHc/SrG4sFXLCKI/AAAAAAAAAS8/z3rHdwVCo_8/s640/bus_terminus_sep09.jpg

finally some pictures

thank you.

I love the two characters..wonderful art form but i wonder what it represents.

Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee wants IT giants Wipro and Infosys to stay in Bengal. Bhattacharjee told Left Front partners on Wednesday that the government will look for alternative land, somewhere in Rajarhat.
“The IT companies are asking for more land at considerable rates,” the CM told Left Front leaders at the meeting. He is likely to firm up his decision after CPM’s state committee meeting on Thursday.
State housing minister and party state secretariat member Gautam Deb has intimated to the CM that he was willing to accommodate the IT giants in New Town, and the land on offer would not be less than the 25 acres each required to set up an IT special economic zone (SEZ).
Deb has left it to the CM to decide the land price.
The rethink started after the IT companies conveyed to the CM that they were not interested in 10 acres — the initial offer that the Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (Hidco) made to them in New Town. They wanted at least 25 acres and at rates below Rs 1.5 crore per acre.
In fact, the two IT companies had initially backed out of New Town as they felt the land price was too high, forcing the IT department to scout for land close to Vedic Village in Rajarhat and set up a IT township in a joint venture with private promoters.

Source: TOI

Looks like Government is making every effort to keep Infosys and Wipro projects alive.
In the the latest news, 45 acres each has been offered to Wipro and Infosys. I wonder about the location of this land being offered




KOLKATA: West Bengal government on Thursday offered 45 acres each to Wipro and Infosys for setting up units at Rajarhat, said Chief Minister
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee

On Wednesday, the West Bengal government had said it had not rejected proposals of IT majors Wipro and Infosys for setting up units near the state capital.

The government had only scrapped the IT park which was to come up near the controversial Vedic Village resort, Left Front chairman Biman Bose told reporters after a LF meeting.

Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had told the meeting that the proposals of Wipro and Infosys had not been rejected, Bose said.

In April 2008, the state government had inked two MoUs - one each with Infosys and Wipro -for setting up IT facilities, for which they had sought 90 acre each.

While for Infosys would had been the first project, Wipro was planning a second one. A company had been floated for setting up an IT park near Vedic Village which now stands scrapped.

Source: TOI

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has announced that IT giants Wipro and Infosys will get 45 acres each in Rajarhat. The companies can collect this land immediately, he says.

The commitment comes days after his government cancelled an IT park project with Infosys and Wipro in Rajarhat, a satellite town near Kolkata. Both companies had been promised 90 acres each. But that deal collapsed after the Vedic Village scandal.

The Vedic Village was a seven-star spa and resort that was being set up next to the proposed IT township. This was a joint venture between the government and a private company. But in August, a mob set fire to that resort, allegedly because farmers were being forced to hand over their land to Vedic Village. The government beat a hasty retreat, cancelling the entire 1200-acre project.

Losing Wipro and Infosys would have cost the state nearly a Rs 1000 crore. Sources say that the chief minister was so upset over the scrapping of the IT park that he was considering resigning.


Source : NDTV

Hopefully these proposals bear some fruit,i guess 45 acreas should be acceptable to Infosys and Wipro to set up their " sprawling grandiose " campuses.
BTW thanks for the pics vegchop :)

to me Buddha babu is the most respectable politician in the country..
his motive to provide land seems clear..
create new jobs..
its a common perception for the global giants to think if companies like Infy and wipro have their presence in the state it will be a good environment to flourish in..

I agree with you!

more in this ...
Date:18/09/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/09/18/stories/2009091856720100.htm
West Bengal offers land to Wipro and Infosys

Special Correspondent
KOLKATA: The West Bengal government will formally invite information technology majors — Wipro and Infosys — to take immediate possession of 45 acres of land being offered to each of them at Rajarhat on the outskirts of the city and start constructing their facilities there.

On September 7, the government had decided not to proceed with the proposed joint sector IT township in and around Rajarhat in the wake of allegations of illegal land deals by a private partner of the project.

“We are ready to give 45 acres of land to both the IT giants, Wipro and Infosys. We will contact them and ask them to come…The units they set up will create huge job opportunities – an estimated 16,000 jobs – within the next two to three years,” Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said here on Thursday.

The State government will contact the two companies on Friday with the offer.

The sites identified for the two IT giants is in the custody of the State’s Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd and has adequate social infrastructure that will suit the interests of the two companies, Mr Bhattacharjee said. “The price of the land being offered to them will be negotiated with the companies,” he added. Both the IT majors have been keen to set up units in the State. “In the case of Wipro, which already has a facility in the city, it is a matter of expansion of their activities. As for Infosys, they have been very eager to come.”

Admitting that it was “unfortunate” that criminal activities “of which we had no idea earlier” were being engaged in for acquiring land for a section of the proposed joint sector IT township within which the two companies had earlier been offered 90 acres of land each, the Chief Minister said his government had decided that “it would not be morally correct” for it to go ahead with the project. all is well that end well! :cheers:

^^so not fair. other IT companies had to pay so much to get those premium Rajarhat Land.

Star Academy, Rajarhat(proposed)
-i guess it's a large sporting campus to prepare our kids for the Olympics.

s2PNNxxfons

Nice update todscreen...........Thanks.....is there any source link(web site) available??....

After months of despair on the industry front and the shock of the IT township project being shelved, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has shown a glimmer of hope. He has offered 45 acres each to Infosys and Wipro in Rajarhat New Town and will personally negotiate the price of the land with the two IT giants.
Infosys and Wipro were supposed to get 90 acres each in the now uncertain IT township next to the controversy-ridden Vedic Village compound.
“Wipro has a presence in the state. Infosys is eager to come. We have been in touch with the IT giants for a long time. I have had talks with Wipro chairman Azim Premji. We want the companies to take possession of the land immediately,” the chief minister said during a press meet at the CPM state headquarters on Thursday.
Unlike on earlier occasions, the government does not need to acquire or purchase the land from farmers. The 90 acres offered by Bhattacharjee is in the possession of Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (Hidco), free from all encumbrances, and well within the boundaries of Rajarhat New Town. What comes as a bonus to these IT companies is the upcoming social infrastructure in New Town — from roads to swanky residential buildings.

Source: TOI

Nice update todscreen...........Thanks.....is there any source link(web site) available??....

no link yet. but i think suncity wrote a post earlier with the link to the construction company.

This is how they are breaking it down for Kolkata
News Source:

50 buses on festival eve

Only 50 of the 1,200 new buses partly funded by the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and the state government will hit the road before Puja.

“We had tried our utmost to roll out at least 500 buses before the festival but a lot of complications arose. So about 50 buses will be available before Puja. Five new buses will start plying from Esplanade tomorrow,” state transport minister Ranjit Kundu said on Thursday.

The government expects to deploy the remaining buses in the city and on its outskirts by the year-end.

The JNNURM and the state government funds will account for 35 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively, of the approximately Rs 20-lakh price tag of the buses.

“We have got Rs 68.5 crore from the Centre and that has been passed on to the bus manufacturers as advance. The state government’s share of the money has also been released. Bank loans are being organised. We hope to get the buses by December,” state finance minister Asim Dasgupta said at Writers’ Buildings on Thursday.

The fleet will comprise 60 air-conditioned Volvo buses, 240 air-conditioned ultra-low floor buses and 900 non-air condition semi-low floor buses. Apart from Volvo, Tata Motors and Ashoke Leyland are the other bus manufacturers.

The state government would operate 270 of the buses through the Calcutta State Transport Corporation, Calcutta Tramways Company, South Bengal State Transport Corporation and West Bengal Surface Transport Corporation.

The remaining 930 buses will be run under the public-private partnership model, said Kundu. “Of the buses, 630 will be offered to owners of buses and minibuses that have gone off the road following the ban on old commercial vehicles. The government will offer Rs 50,000 and Rs 30,000 as grant to the owners. They will have to pay a security deposit of Rs 2 lakh and Rs 22,000 plus taxes per month to the state government,” added Kundu.


http://telegraphindia.com/1090918/jsp/calcutta/story_11509310.jsp

Break-down of new buses for Kolkata:
A/C ultra low floor Volvo: 60
A/C ultra low floor TATA & Ashok Leyland: 240
non-A/C semi-low floor Buses: 900

Government Run: 270 A/C Volvos, TATAs, & Ashok Leyland
Public-Private partnership run: 900 non AC semi-low floor buses & 30 A/C ultra low floor buses
-630 of these buses will offered to the owners of old buses that went out of the road after high court ban.

Ultra-low floor buses Vs. Semi-low floor buses
Major distinction: less that 40 cm vs. 65 cm

in pictures:
Ultra-Low floor bus
http://www.wangarattacoachlines.com.au/www/566/files/37_lowfloor_2.jpg

Semi-Low floor bus
http://www.indyalive.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/semifloorbuses-300x201.jpg

more in this ...
Date:18/09/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/09/18/stories/2009091856720100.htm
all is well that end well! :cheers:

^^I would wait and watch. It is still not clear at what price the land will be offered to Wipro and Infy. We can be sure only if something concrete is said by officials from Wipro and Infy

16 story commercial tower in the DN Block of Sector V.
http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/3213740.jpg
from panoramio

Stores open as of now. Apple (Imagine), Pantaloons, Food Bazaar and the famous Tea Junction.
Photo CC: Vineet (a good ol' friend)!

http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/6295/citycenterrajarhat1.jpg

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/1853/citycenterrajarhat2.jpg

http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/6026/citycenterrajarhat3.jpg

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/3596/citycenterrajarhat4.jpg

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/5180/citycenterrajarhat5.jpg

Nice pictures Vegchop...........City Center II looks huge....:cheers:

A day after chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee announced alternative land for Infosys and Wipro at New Town (Rajarhat), one of the co-promoters of the Kolkata IT Links project asserted he was not giving up hope on reviving the controversy-prone venture.
“I am just waiting for my partner (Raj Modi) to come out (of jail), following which we can go to the government and sort out this problem. I am sure a solution can be found if we sit across the table considering we have an able chief minister, land minister and IT minister,” Diamond Group chief Amarnath Shroff told TOI on Friday. “For the moment, though, it’s just wait-and-watch for us.”
Diamond had tied up with Raj Modi-led Vedic Realty to form a joint venture firm — Vedic Diamond IT Links (erstwhile Akash Nirman). This private JV, in turn, had aligned with Webel to form Webel Akash IT Links that was supposed to undertake the township project, whose fate still remains unclear following allegations of forcible land acquisition.
“Land acquisition was going on quite well as the money being paid was the highest in that area. I had not heard anything of land being taken over at gun-point which is also evident from the fact that not all the plots are contiguous. But as my partner (Modi) was handling the land aspect, I am awaiting his return so that we can clarify our position,” Shroff said.
State IT minister Debesh Das, department secretary Siddharth and Webel MD Tamal Dasgupta could not be reached for their reactions to what Shroff said. While the mobile phones of the minister and Dasgupta went unanswered, the cellphone of the secretary was switched off.
The Diamond boss claimed it was Modi’s persuasive skills that had made Infosys agree to set up a presence within the Kolkata IT Links.

Source: TOI

The state government is looking forward to a positive response from Infosys a day after a “fruitful talk” between chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Wipro chief Azim Premji. If something positive actually works out, that will come as a major boost to the IT sector in Bengal in the days of slowdown.
Housing minister Gautam Deb is preparing papers for land allocation in the Action Area III (a commercial area) of New Town. “The CM had a
fruitful discussion with Premji yesterday. We are now waiting for the IT giant to submit its building plan. The IT enclave will be inaugurated on September 23 by Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee”, said Deb.
Hidco — of which Deb is the chairman — is also preparing a status report of the plots being given to IT firms. “I understand that the construction will take some time. But all these companies have to give a time frame by which they propose to start operation,” said Deb.
In 2007, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) paid Rs 60.4 crore for 40 acre (around Rs 1.5 crore per acre) in New Town. But Wipro and Infosys had backed out of Rajarhat on ground that the land price there is too high. That explains why the state IT department went into a joint venture for land purchase close to Vedic Village.
Now that the proposed township has got mired in a controversy, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has to negotiate with the two IT giants to fix a land rate which is likely to be less than Rs 1.5 crore per acre.
The CM’s initiative to provide 45 acres of land each to Wipro and Infosys in New Town is a one off case. From now, real estate developers would not get land to start housing projects on their own at New Town. They will be allowed to do so only if they have a joint venture with Hidco.

Source: TOI

Salt Lake should expand vertically. The ruling party has long harboured this opinion and now, the state government, too, has come round to this view. The state urban development department has decided to form a committee to deliberate on this and assess the infrastructure upgrade required for it.
Currently only two- to four-storey buildings are allowed on Salt Lake land, which is divided in small plots ranging from between two to six cottahs. This gives the VIP township a low-rise character.
But with the East-West Metro set to connect the township to the rest of the city, the importance of Salt Lake will go up manifold and more people will move in, triggering the need for highrises, feel urban planners.
The Left Front had voiced the demand for vertical expansion before the 2005 municipal elections. After a lot of clamouring, the government amended the rules to allow an additional 140 square feet (100 square feet for room and 40 square feet for toilet) on the roof of the second floor. And that was all.
But things might just change now. State urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya said, “The population of Salt Lake is currently around 1.5 lakh. In the near future it is projected to go up by another 1 lakh. To accommodate the added population, 30% extra space would be required. But we don’t have the land for this. Hence, the idea of vertical expansion.”
The minister added, “But things are not so simple. A decision like this can only be taken after long deliberations and specialised calculation. So, a committee — comprising technical experts, engineers and townplanners — will thus have to be formed. The final decision will be taken after going through the committee’s recommendations.” .........

Source: TOI

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/4125/55383137.jpg (http://img9.imageshack.us/i/55383137.jpg/)

Source: TOI

Sep. 19

http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/4276/terminussep09.jpg

Sep. 19

http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/4012/sankalpasep09.jpg

Nice updates Vegchop.......Terminus Mall looking large.......:cheers:

The Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government is trying to line up a nearly Rs 100-crore solution for the vexed effluent treatment issue that threatens to ground the Calcutta Leather Complex (CLC) and holds ominous signs for the future of the adjoining IT park in Bantala.
The state industries department has decided to approach its central counterpart to bail it out of the imminent crisis arising from the need to upgrade the common effluent treatment plant (CETP) operating at the CLC so that tannery waste doesnt clog up the drainage channels and the resultant stench drives away even techies from occupying glitzy office spaces being put up by the likes of Cognizant and Tech Mahindra in that area.
Sources said the state would seek funds under the 11th Five-Year Plan scheme on upgradation/installation of infrastructure for environment protection , as part of which 50% of the capital cost, subject to a limit of Rs 50 crore, would be available from the Centre. The state government and beneficiaries would chip in the balance amount.
The sources pointed out that the state has estimated that rectification and construction of an additional two CETP modules would need slightly over Rs 50 crore, while the spend necessary on a solid waste management system would be around Rs 16 crore. Pretreatment, flow measuring and tertiary effluent treatment , and related expenses in connection with these, would require almost Rs 32 crore. State commerce and industries secretary Sabyasachi Sen, however, could not be reached for a comment.

Source: TOI

Hiland Woods - Updates

photo copyright Swapan Kumar Das

http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/7441/hilandwoodsswapankumard.jpg (http://img36.imageshack.us/i/hilandwoodsswapankumard.jpg/)

'Ecospace' business park inaugurated in Kolkata

CC : NewKerala.com - 24.09.2009


Kolkata, Sep 23 : Ambuja Realty Wednesday inaugurated the first phase of its 'Ecospace' business park on the northeastern fringes of the city.
Harshavardhan Neotia, chairman of the company, said at the inauguration: "We have a plan to invest Rs.290 crore for the whole project. But for the first phase we have invested Rs.180 crore, including the cost of the land."

The project built on 10 acres in New Town is expected to generate employment for 10,000 people once completed.

Ecospace is a 20-acre project, of which Ambuja is constructing 10 acres and the rest is being readied by RMZ of Bangalore.

The major companies that have already sought space in the project are HDFC Bank, Acclaris, Calcom Cement and Thyssenkrupp among others.

Talking of skilled manpower, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who was present at the inauguration, said there should not be any demand-supply mismatch between the availability of skilled manpower and industrial needs.

He stressed that development should be of prime importance. In a multi-party democratic system there should not be divergence of views regarding development, he said.

Image CR: Akankha google group

http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/1708/akankha.jpg

Source (http://www.travelbizmonitor.com/science-city-kolkata-invites-eoi-for-convention-centre-8373)


Science City, Kolkata invites EoI for convention centre
By TBM Staff | Mumbai
Science City, Kolkata has invited expression of interest (EoI) under public private partnership (PPP) in order to expand, upgrade, operate, market and maintain its convention centre. EoI has been invited from reputed Indian developers and operators of exhibitions, conventions and hospitality business, which have experience in designing, development, operation, marketing and maintenance of integrated exhibition and/or convention centres and have independent legal entities/joint venture/consortium of firm with strong financial backing.

Leveraging on the advantages of its location and brand value, Science City, Kolkata intends to develop additional state-of-the-art facilities in synergy with the existing facilities. The last day of submitting the EoI is on October 12, 2009.

Science City, Kolkata is a unit of the National Council of Science Museums, an autonomous body under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. Science City comprises a Science Centre, one of the largest of its kind in India and a convention centre, which is the largest convention centre in eastern India.

Those neon light signs on the buildings make them end up looking like high rise versions of motels .... tacky and unnecessary

Some buildngs

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/9758/kolkatacollage.jpg (http://img25.imageshack.us/i/kolkatacollage.jpg/)

Amazing! These buildings would give Gurgaon a run for it's money any day.

Those neon light signs on the buildings make them end up looking like high rise versions of motels .... tacky and unnecessary

Couldn't agree more. This trend is disturbing. Hopefully enough people buying have the sense to tell the developers... maybe they'll stop.

Couldn't agree less with idea that Sector V is cranking out nice architecture. Sure, lots of tall glass buildings, but you will NOT see any of these held up as well designed.

Competing with Gurgaon seems like a real estate game rather than an architectural one.

The city would look better if the roads were properly maintained, the footpaths were not sold off to hawkers or encroachers and those cable wires sent underground. Also regular clearance of garbage would be a nice thing to do. Anyway basic things like these are too much to expect from the authorities who are in ghor kumbhakarna mode for decades.

New Town, Kolkata
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv233/kolkatawb/3974544823_2b9e33ff61_b.jpg
cc:sujitd6

photo copyright Abhishek Sadhya

DLF IT Park

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/8984/dlfparkabhisheksadhyas.jpg (http://img156.imageshack.us/i/dlfparkabhisheksadhyas.jpg/)

Godrej Waterside

photos copyright Abhishek Sadhya

1
http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/7268/abhisheksadhya1.jpg (http://img156.imageshack.us/i/abhisheksadhya1.jpg/)

2
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/9931/abhisheksadhya2.jpg (http://img80.imageshack.us/i/abhisheksadhya2.jpg/)

Unitech IT Park
photo copyright Abhishek Sadhya

<---scroll if needed--->
http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/5249/unitechparkabhisheksadh.jpg (http://img39.imageshack.us/i/unitechparkabhisheksadh.jpg/)

Ideal Lake View

photo copyright Sahil

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/6963/ideallakeviewsahil3.jpg (http://img40.imageshack.us/i/ideallakeviewsahil3.jpg/)

Salt Lake should expand vertically. The ruling party has long harboured this opinion and now, the state government, too, has come round to this view. The state urban development department has decided to form a committee to deliberate on this and assess the infrastructure upgrade required for it.
Currently only two- to four-storey buildings are allowed on Salt Lake land, which is divided in small plots ranging from between two to six cottahs. This gives the VIP township a low-rise character.
But with the East-West Metro set to connect the township to the rest of the city, the importance of Salt Lake will go up manifold and more people will move in, triggering the need for highrises, feel urban planners.
The Left Front had voiced the demand for vertical expansion before the 2005 municipal elections. After a lot of clamouring, the government amended the rules to allow an additional 140 square feet (100 square feet for room and 40 square feet for toilet) on the roof of the second floor. And that was all.
But things might just change now. State urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya said, “The population of Salt Lake is currently around 1.5 lakh. In the near future it is projected to go up by another 1 lakh. To accommodate the added population, 30% extra space would be required. But we don’t have the land for this. Hence, the idea of vertical expansion.”
The minister added, “But things are not so simple. A decision like this can only be taken after long deliberations and specialised calculation. So, a committee — comprising technical experts, engineers and townplanners — will thus have to be formed. The final decision will be taken after going through the committee’s recommendations.” .........

Source: TOI

How tall should the new buildings at the Bidhannagar district be, about 20 floors?

After crores have been and are still being spent on flyovers, experts feel it is time to dismantle them and adopt more cost-effective and intelligent solutions to transportation problems.
“From road-engineering to transport policy, there has to be a shift from a personalised transport system to a modern, efficient and comfortable mass transit system with greater impetus on pedestrians’ safety,” was the collective view at the symposium on ‘traffic calming strategies to improve pedestrian safety’ organised by Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS).
“In the last 20 years, not a single flyover has been built across Europe. In fact, European countries have developed a policy of gradually getting rid of flyovers. This has helped Europe decongest cities one after another, with a drastic reduction in the number of fatal accidents. In fact, a good bus rapid transit system (BRTS) offers all solutions to complex transportation problems,” said internationally acclaimed transportation expert, Prof. Dinesh Mohan. “Flyovers are used by cars only. Less than 10% of Kolkatans are car-users. How can one spend 80% of the transport budget for 10% of the population. It is undemocratic, he added.
“Flyovers have a big advantage — they are a visible sign of development. But efficacy of these flyovers is questionable. Five years after it was built, the state government is thinking of adding a ramp to the 2-km AJC Bose Road flyover. This shows that the flyover is an example of inadequate planning,” said Union minister of state for urban development, Saugata Roy.
He said his ministry would emphasise pedestrian safety. “We need wider sidewalks. The road engineering should be in complete harmony with the growth of population. Since a majority of road users are pedestrians, sidewalks have to be wider,” Roy added. Civil engineering experts also admitted that their academic focus was completely on the construction of carriageway, not sidewalks. “Now we are making amends,” said Prof. Sudip Roy.

Source: TOI

Does anybody know about the status of the Kolkata International Logistics City which was planned to be built on the Kona Expressway by Salim/Unitech/Jurong grroups. Has work started or it has been scrapped like most of other infrastructure projects?

^^i don't know what other scrapped infrastructure projects you are talking about, but no.

The project is still on and google maps show where it is...and the outline of the area. go check it out.

After crores have been and are still being spent on flyovers, experts feel it is time to dismantle them and adopt more cost-effective and intelligent solutions to transportation problems.
“From road-engineering to transport policy, there has to be a shift from a personalised transport system to a modern, efficient and comfortable mass transit system with greater impetus on pedestrians’ safety,” was the collective view at the symposium on ‘traffic calming strategies to improve pedestrian safety’ organised by Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS).
“In the last 20 years, not a single flyover has been built across Europe. In fact, European countries have developed a policy of gradually getting rid of flyovers. This has helped Europe decongest cities one after another, with a drastic reduction in the number of fatal accidents. In fact, a good bus rapid transit system (BRTS) offers all solutions to complex transportation problems,” said internationally acclaimed transportation expert, Prof. Dinesh Mohan. “Flyovers are used by cars only. Less than 10% of Kolkatans are car-users. How can one spend 80% of the transport budget for 10% of the population. It is undemocratic, he added.
“Flyovers have a big advantage — they are a visible sign of development. But efficacy of these flyovers is questionable. Five years after it was built, the state government is thinking of adding a ramp to the 2-km AJC Bose Road flyover. This shows that the flyover is an example of inadequate planning,” said Union minister of state for urban development, Saugata Roy.
He said his ministry would emphasise pedestrian safety. “We need wider sidewalks. The road engineering should be in complete harmony with the growth of population. Since a majority of road users are pedestrians, sidewalks have to be wider,” Roy added. Civil engineering experts also admitted that their academic focus was completely on the construction of carriageway, not sidewalks. “Now we are making amends,” said Prof. Sudip Roy.

Source: TOI

^^another piece of junk reporting from TOI:bash:. Saugata Roy to my knowledge is from TMC and he is talking crap to blame the govt thats all. How will we build wider sidewalks when road space itself is 6% in Kolkata? Has he thought about hawkers?:nuts:

After the Vedic Village and IT township fiasco, here’s a piece of promising news for the state. The state IT department on Monday clinched an agreement for an information technology (IT) hub along EM Bypass.
The deal was inked between Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and the IT department at the civic headquarters on Monday. Accordingly, a five-member committee has been formed to monitor the project. IT secretary Siddharth, who signed the agreement on behalf of the state, will head the committee. Other members of the panel include municipal commissioner Arnab Roy, joint civic commissioner Sahidul Islam and KMC’s controller of finance and accounts, Debatosh Dasgupta.
Mayor Bikash Bhattacharya said KMC would provide a 2-acre plot near Science City from its land bank for the joint venture project. Besides, an escrow account has been opened for the Rs 25-crore project, which has been in the pipeline for the past few years. The project will generate 6,000 jobs for trained
IT professionals in the state, Bhattacharya said. A global tender for construction of the hub would be floated shortly, the mayor said.
Besides creating jobs, the mayor said the IT hub would also be a major source of revenue for the civic body. “Under the agreement, KMC will mop up revenue by providing licences to major IT firms. This will make the civic body financially sound,” Bhattacharya said.

Source: TOI

good news guys..
the Vedic village resort has started the operations again..
don't whether its an old news but this is what their website has to say


Yes the Butterflies are back and so are the rare birds so visibly.

Within just three weeks of the unfortunate incident the Resort is back in operation. All rooms are operational and a number of guests have visited including farmhouse owners.



It’s good to see the comments are so positive and we give below a few:


“Inspite of all the recent troubles, Vedic remains one of the great locations in Kolkata. This goes to show the dedication and passion of the Vedic staff. I wish the media had reported on this” - Dipak Roy ( Farm house owner)

"Exceptional experience, wonderful courtesy shown by all the staff members.
Great Suite, great food, awesome place to enjoy holiday with wonderful spa experience” – Pallavi Choudhury

" We are surprised by the promptness of the authorities to start the restaurant
afresh and the quality of the food and the reception we received is excellent, and believe it, is beyond our imagination” – D R Kar.

"Good start. Keep it up. Nothing can stop you people” – Sanjay Gupta

“Beyond expression. Feelings include one with emotion, joy, happiness, and satisfaction!!! A simple statement – tough times do not last, tough people do!! Keep up the spirit, Vedic” - Sandeep, Bhawana Shah and family ( Farm house owner).

“As per your prescription on the very first day (your recommended treatment), I feel as if all my ailments of perennial influenza are a thing of the past. You are an asset to Calcutta. Never go away despite whatever anybody says.” – Arindam Dutta ( letter to Dr C M Pradyumna, Director of Medicine, Sanjeeva Spa, Vedic Village)

“Good. Hope everything comes back to normal” – V M Rao ( Farm house owner).

After the Vedic Village and IT township fiasco, here’s a piece of promising news for the state. The state IT department on Monday clinched an agreement for an information technology (IT) hub along EM Bypass.
The deal was inked between Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and the IT department at the civic headquarters on Monday. Accordingly, a five-member committee has been formed to monitor the project. IT secretary Siddharth, who signed the agreement on behalf of the state, will head the committee. Other members of the panel include municipal commissioner Arnab Roy, joint civic commissioner Sahidul Islam and KMC’s controller of finance and accounts, Debatosh Dasgupta.
Mayor Bikash Bhattacharya said KMC would provide a 2-acre plot near Science City from its land bank for the joint venture project. Besides, an escrow account has been opened for the Rs 25-crore project, which has been in the pipeline for the past few years. The project will generate 6,000 jobs for trained
IT professionals in the state, Bhattacharya said. A global tender for construction of the hub would be floated shortly, the mayor said.
Besides creating jobs, the mayor said the IT hub would also be a major source of revenue for the civic body. “Under the agreement, KMC will mop up revenue by providing licences to major IT firms. This will make the civic body financially sound,” Bhattacharya said.

Source: TOI
i heard about this..but only 2 acres? big deal...how big is 2 acres? the size of 4 salt lake stadiums.

i heard about this..but only 2 acres? big deal...how big is 2 acres? the size of 4 salt lake stadiums.

2 acres is not a huge area.....

1 acre = 43560 sqft(60.5 cottah)

but office towers may be tall............

So is the Biswa Banga Shikhar project truly scrapped. I checked the other thread and there seemed to be no clarity. What a pity.

Mamata claimed that 3 people in car tried to kill her

my god..she is losing it

all this power is having her head in.

ITC plans 27-storey hotel in Kolkata




ITC has drawn up big expansion plans for its hotel division in Kolkata and plans to invest Rs 1,500 crore for the initiatives. It will be setting up ITC Sonar Tower-II adjacent to the existing ITC Sonar in the eastern fringes of the city. And unlike the existing one, the new one, which would have about 500 rooms, will have a tall structure (possibly a 27-storey building). The hotel is expected to be complete in three years.
ITC and ITC Hotels officials are tightlipped about the expansion project. A detailed mailed questionnaire sent to the company did not get any response. However, Kolkata Municipal Corp (KMC) officials have confirmed having sanctioned ITC Hotels’ Sonar Tower-II with a total covered area of 1.5 million sq ft. Larsen & Toubro has confirmed having bagged a Rs 238 crore construction order for ITC's second hotel project in the city. The most recent annual report of ITC lists Chennai, Bangalore and Kolkata under ‘three great hotels in the making’, which the company claims will add to its chain of super-deluxe properties.
Talking about the hotel division, ITC chairman Y C Deveshwar had said at the company’s 98th annual general meeting the company was in possession of land in cities such as Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bhubaneshwar, Coimbatore and Gurgaon where hotels would be set up. The company is expanding its hotel in Kolkata and setting up a new one with 470 rooms in the city. Deveshwar, however, did not give any timeframe for completion of these projects.
Deveshwar had said that ITC is looking at acquiring properties at reasonable prices to expand its hotel business. And this seven-acre property adjacent to its existing property has now come in handy. “Since seven acres may not be enough for a 500-room, super-luxury hotel, ITC has decided to go vertical this time. Architecturally and from a design standpoint, a vertical structure is better than a horizontal structure, insiders told Financial Chronicle.
The 238-room ITC Sonar of ITC Hotels in Kolkata is ranked No 1 in the hotel industries’ ‘Value Index’ (an industry parlance that measures occupancy rates and revenue, among other things) in the city and this recognition prompted the latest expansion plans.
According to KMC officials, the sanctioned plan talks of a super-luxury hotel with 500-plus rooms built on 27 floors (350 feet). As per the initial plans, the hotel will include seven multi-cuisine restaurants, retail showrooms, 24-hour coffee shop and a banquet hall, among other facilities.

CC: Financial Chronicle dated 14.10.2009

that is one gem of a news.. :) :banana:

This news had appeared in TOI some time back,they had even incuded an artists rendition of how the 27 storey tower will look,although not sure whether thats the final plan.The rendition showed the tower to be similiar in design to the Grand central ITC in Mumbai.

This news had appeared in TOI some time back,they had even incuded an artists rendition of how the 27 storey tower will look,although not sure whether thats the final plan.The rendition showed the tower to be similiar in design to the Grand central ITC in Mumbai.

Avishar, you are right.......the news was in the headline of The Telegraph(23rd June, 2009), not in TOI.

HERE ARE TWO GOOD NEWS.............

City SEZ to cash in on land woes

Land issues have either grounded or stalled the progress of several industrial ventures in Bengal.
But for a city-based developer which had hopped on the IT bandwagon when ‘downturn’ was yet to become a household term, and has been worried no end since, the current turbulence on the land front may provide it with its best chance to keep its SEZ dreams alive.
Oval Developers — whose notified IT SEZ has been under a cloud because of the lowering in business momentum — is banking on land-scarred tech majors warming up to the possibility of setting up a presence at Oval’s delineated economic zone on a 29-acre plot in South 24-Parganas to ensure that they can commence operations here, and in the process, also save the developer from the blushes.
“Rather than putting up the SEZ completely on our own which is a very tough proposition in the current economic environment and also needs huge resources, we have decided to look for anchor tenants, particularly from those who have had problems setting up centres here on account of land-related problems,” Oval Developers co-promoter Noomi Mehta said....


US Envoy Sees Business Opportunities In State

Brand Bengal — whose slide has exactly mirrored the global downturn — seems to be on the road to recovery, with the once familiar words of praise starting to make a comeback on the lips of key stakeholders.
If it was former Assocham president and Videocon Group chairman Venugopal Dhoot on Tuesday waxing eloquent on the state’s potential and how the conglomerate was sold on its merits, it was the turn of US envoy Timothy Roemer on Wednesday to dispel any apprehensions about mega American firms giving the state a go-by because of all that has happened since India’s most respected industrialist Ratan Tata was forced to shift the Nano plant from Singur last October.
“I think people on the ground are positive about the relationship. But, as with any other part of the country, transparency, rule of law, equal opportunity and reward for risks will help to bring more American investments,” Roemer, visiting the city for the first time, told reporters.
Roemer — who held meetings with chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and local representatives of Amcham (an association representing the interests of US companies operating in India) during his stay here — cited the example of Pepsico’s Frito-Lay division to prove that US companies understood where opportunities lay and how to make use of those. Frito-Lay has been one of the biggest US investors in Bengal, with a facility at Howrah’s Sankrail..........

Source: TOI

Calcutta trade office on Dutch agenda


The Netherlands is set to open a trade office in the city by December end.

“We have approached the Netherlands commerce ministry and the local government here for opening a business support office in Calcutta. The legal process is expected to be over in a month,” Bob Hiensch, Netherlands’ ambassador to India, said here today.

At present, the Netherlands has 40 trade offices, globally, and two of them are in India.

“Our offices in Chennai and Ahmedabad are the most successful ones. The third office in India will be in Calcutta and we also have plans to open another in Hyderabad,” the ambassador said.

Hiensch, who met state commerce and industries secretary Sabyasachi Sen today, said they had “fruitful” discussions; Sen had assured him all assistance in opening the office.

Hiensch and Sen also discussed possibilities of collaboration in sectors such as agriculture, food processing, floriculture, petrochemicals, water storage and vocational training.

“These are the sectors where we have the expertise which the state (Bengal) needs,” Hiensch said.

The ambassador said the Netherlands hoped to cross the $10-billion-mark in bilateral trade with India by 2013.



cc: The Telegraph 15.10.2009

i created a review site. yippie

its for Kolkata and Bengal only. It's a user-generated review site for bengali movies, restaurants, and events. Forummers living in Kolkata are encouraged to submit reviews. pls..i could really use some..just started it. haha

heres the link: www.bengalireview.weebly.com

The economy might be on the recovery path, but state government agencies, such as KMDA or Hidco, are still going slow in auctioning or selling plots to developers for commercial and residential real-estate projects.
The agencies are waiting for the economy to improve further so that they can get the most out of it by auctioning off their land.
KMDA has plans to auction about 100 acres at Nonadanga for setting up a business park and another three-acre plot off Barrackpore-Kalyani Expressway for a commercial complex. The bidding process for another 18-acre plot off Kona Expressway, which was supposed to have taken place in July, is on hold after a court case.
Officials, however, said that they are waiting for things to improve further before starting off with these projects as real estate developers may still not be interested in paying astronomical prices for these plots at this moment. “The recession had badly affected real estate prices. Though the situation is improving, developers may still not be interested in buying these plots for huge sums at the moment. We will re-start the process once the recession dies down and the market becomes favourable again,” said an official. In fact, KMDA is working on retrieving about 150 acres of land that it had lost track of in and around the city.
In 2005, KMDA earned a whopping Rs 209 crore by selling a 6.2-acre plot near Parama Island off EM Bypass to the Dubai-based real estate major EMaar-MGF. Kolkata Municipal Corporation also sold a 5-acre plot on EM Bypass to a private real estate developer for Rs 154 crore. Last year, KMDA sold two plots, one each at Salt Lake and Sector-V, for setting up corporate parks. KMDA had previously sold nearly 2,000 acres on EM Bypass, Salt Lake, Baisnabghata Patuli, Garia, Sonarpur and elsewhere in the Kolkata Metropolitan Area.
Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (Hidco), too, has several plots in New Town, which they plan to auction. But Hidco is also going slow on the auctions. The authorities are framing a policy to determine how commercial plots in Rajarhat could be sold.

Source: TOI

Green energy from waste
Source: Times EPaper

Kolkata: Almost a year after Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC) signed a memorandum of understanding with Hyderabad-based Selco for green-energy-from-garbage project, work has finally started on the plant that will generate 7.5 MW power daily.
HMC has given the company a 10-acre plot at Sarenga, Sankrail, for the Rs 50 crore facility, said to be the first of its kind in eastern India. The West Bengal Green Energy Development Corporation (WBGEDC) will be the technical adviser for the project. Power will be generated from about 500 metric tonnes of garbage every day, taken from Howrah dumping ground.
HMC mayor Mamata Jaiswal said the project will help conserve electricity and also generate revenue. “The project is an attempt to minimise the use of conventional energy as far as possible to tackle the problem of global warming and climate change,” she said.
HMC had floated a global tender for the project. The 70-foot-high pile of garbage at Howrah dumping ground would provide ready raw material for the green power plant, it was felt.
Experts said apart from generating green power, the project could also solve the problem of garbage piling up at the dumping ground which reached its saturation point months back.
An expert committee formed to scrutinise tender bids drew up a shortlist from which Selco was finally selected. “The developer will foot the project cost,” said an official.
WBGEDC managing director S P Gon Choudhuri said power generated from garbage may be costlier than that generated from coal, but it would help earn the corporation valuable revenue for its clean development mechanism (CDM). “The entire process would earn Rs 1 crore as CDM benefit,” he said.
Explaining the process, Gon Choudhuri said that garbage would be put into the plant’s machine that will create a jerk to separate solid and heavy waste materials. The lighter waste materials left in the machine would then be passed onto a dryer. Drying would convert the waste into Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF) — a special kind of fuel — which would ultimately generate power.
It will take about eight months from now to develop RDF. Power will finally be generated four months from then. So, by this time next year, Howrah would receive power from garbage.
Gon Choudhuri said similar projects could also be implemented in other areas of the state like Siliguri, Durgapur, Burdwan and Hooghly. “With an increasing need to conserve energy, apart from developing renewable energies like solar power, such innovative techniques should be adopted in other areas to minimize the use of conventional energy,” he said

HMC mayor Mamata Jaiswal

another mamata but world apart.

Hi, does anyone of u know about the progress of thw wipro flyover?.....has it been open to traffic?

What about the ultadanga flyover......has it been opened to traffic?

Has work on parama island-park circus 4km flyover, vivekananda road flyover and budge budge-taratala 8km flyover yet started??

Also is it true that in rajarhat some more flyovers will be built?

at least we can expect a cleaner look for howrah.....in near future...:)

its now high time that KMC should think of other options other than Dhapa....and also KMC should tie up with big MNCs for taking care of garbage dumping and clearing and also getting rid of the open garbage truck......NONE OF THE METRO CITY HAVE IT THESE DAYS....!!!!!!! :bash:

Hi, does anyone of u know about the progress of thw wipro flyover?.....has it been open to traffic?

What about the ultadanga flyover......has it been opened to traffic?

Has work on parama island-park circus 4km flyover, vivekananda road flyover and budge budge-taratala 8km flyover yet started??

Also is it true that in rajarhat some more flyovers will be built?

1> it will take i think more 2-3 moths for the wipro flyover's completion
2> t will take i think another 1 year for the ultadanga flyover's completion as it is a double flyover project
3> no idea about this
4> \i went to rjarhat a week ago..... work seemed to have just started for a flyover near DLF building

Mackenzie Building (under renovation)
http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad173/bengalireview/4037799082_6e65410f5b_o.jpg
cc:kamal882

TOI Epaper


Alipore Zoo plans massive revamp
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Kolkata: Visitors to Alipore Zoo may soon be able to visit the aquarium that is located on the opposite side of Alipore road on a single ticket. The state government plans to build a footbridge to connect the two premises. Besides this, a large number of infrastructural changes are being discussed to increase the footfall at the zoo.
“We are planning to introduce a single ticket so that visitors can go to the zoo and the aquarium at the same cost. Even an escalator can be installed if this move increases footfall to the zoo. We have many other revamp plans lined up. However, all these changes will take some time to be implemented,” said forest secretary K S Rajendra Kumar.
As a heightened security measure, the state forest department has plans to install night vision cameras in the zoo premises. The department also plans to build a new food court. Discussions are being held to redesign the enclosure meant for housing tigers and lions. There are also plans to remodel the carnivore cages. Even cages for birds need an overhaul.
The security agency has been changed and more securitymen have been deployed. Moreover, barbed wire fencing has been installed around the zoo boundary. The forest department also plans to increase the number of zoo keepers and staff, Kumar said.
Zoo officials plan to instal automated gates so that visitors can punch their tickets themselves before entering the premises. Talks are on with a number of agencies to implement this move.
An official of the zoo said that there are proposals for increasing green cover inside the zoo. Setting up an enclosure for squirrels and renovating the one for reptiles is also on the cards. Even the water body where migratory birds flock every winter is going to be spruced up, Kumar said.
Zoo officials feel that the ban on taking food inside the premises might reduce footfall as many visitors enjoyed picnics in the zoo in winter. The ban took effect from this month. The revamp aims make up for this loss and increase footfall by providing better service.

The first two pics were taken way back in july:
http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/2016/36532347.jpg


http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/4616/85512595.jpg


The next two pics were taken in September @ EM Bypass:

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/7357/image0020v.jpg


http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/7619/image0022wp.jpg

I hope that there has been a subsequent progress since this period…….looking ahead for some more pics.....:)

^^thanks for the pics..:cheers:
also post these in the Kolkata Metro thread

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata-/A-Nuclear-Flashpoint/articleshow/5161618.cms

OH not again.... :ohno:

TOI Epaper
the proposed upgrades sound great ..... but does anyone know if any changes are being made that would improve the quality of life of the zoo inmates themselves, like bigger enclosures that more closely replicate the animal's natural habitat?

Hotel with a helipad beats New Town blues
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/8113/28methotel.jpg

An artist’s impression of the Shristi-Westin hotel
Rajarhat the hospitality hub scored a rare victory on Tuesday with the announcement of a Rs 800 crore five-star property, crowned with a helipad.
Shristi Hotel, an arm of Shristi Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd, has joined hands with global hospitality major Westin Hotels & Resorts, for the 323-key address which hopes to welcome guests by end-2011.
The twin towers of the G+35 hotel, a “bionic structure”, will boast a rooftop helipad, “a first by an Indian hotel”, and a high-tech fire-fighting system with Israeli collaboration, geared to evacuate 150 people in eight minutes.
This is the second hotel project with an overseas partner announced in Rajarhat in recent weeks, with Ambuja Realty confirming the Swissôtel Group as its hospitality partner for the five-star mall hotel atop City Centre 2.
The Shristi-Westin alliance on the eight-acre land parcel would be the first standalone deluxe five-star hotel in a Rajarhat rocked by lack of infrastructure and land-grab allegations.
Calcutta, languishing at a five-star room count of just over a thousand — about a ninth of Delhi’s — was promised an injection of at least 2,000 new star keys over a five-year timeframe. Going by today’s status, not even 20 per cent of that room rack will be ready by 2010.
DLF, which had pledged to bring three star hotels to Calcutta with a combined investment of Rs 1,000 crore, is yet to break ground.
Bengal Unitech Universal, committed to adding three properties in Rajarhat offering 500-plus keys among them, has only completed the foundation for the Marriott Courtyard in its IT park, with little signs of moving a step further.
Emaar-MGF, which made real estate history in Calcutta by quoting a record Rs 213 crore for a 6.24-acre plot on the Bypass, is also going slow on its double-header there — a JW Marriott and a Holiday Inn — with 250 keys each.
So why is the Shristi-Westin hotel taking the plunge? “The feasibility analysis by Deloitte has thrown up very encouraging potential for hotel rooms here,” said Sujit Kanoria, the managing director of Shristi Infrastructure Development.
Designed by the Spanish firm of Cervera & Pioz, which created the New York Stock Exchange and the Acropolis Museum in Greece, the star address is banking on “building with the bear and running with the bull”, says an industry veteran.
“Thanks to the small inventory size in Calcutta, there’s always room for more, despite the low energy. When the Shristi-Westin hotel will become operational, the overall economy would have turned the corner and the rest of the hotel projects would not be ready,” he added.
The hotel will have a wrap-around shopping and entertainment arcade with “an eclectic mix of live entertainment, fun and fine-dining outlets, speciality retail and state-of-the-art cinemas”.


Courtesy: THE TELEGRAPH

Joint drive for station facelift
A STAFF REPORTER

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/6172/27metterminus.jpg

The bus terminus adjacent to Howrah station

The state government and the railways are working together to revamp Howrah station and its adjoining areas, including the bus terminus, which is in a shambles.

On Monday, chief secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti discussed the matter with senior officials of the state government, Eastern Railway, Calcutta Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), Calcutta Port Trust and the Howrah administration.

“CMDA’s plan for developing the bus terminus adjacent to Howrah station was discussed at the meeting. A East-West Metro interface will also be built at Howrah station,” said Sumantra Chowdhury, the state transport secretary. Chowdhury conceded that the present condition of the bus terminus was “unhealthy and the planning very complex” and said around Rs 50 lakh would be spent on the upgrade.

“Hawkers and vendors have encroached on the terminus premises. There is no proper drainage and sewerage system in the area, leading to frequent waterlogging,” said Sanghamitra Ghosh, the district magistrate of Howrah.

A railway official said the East-West Metro interface at Howrah station would be set up 20ft underground between platforms 16 and 17.


Courtesy: THE TELEGRAPH

Hotel with a helipad beats New Town blues
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/8113/28methotel.jpg

An artist’s impression of the Shristi-Westin hotel
Rajarhat the hospitality hub scored a rare victory on Tuesday with the announcement of a Rs 800 crore five-star property, crowned with a helipad.
Shristi Hotel, an arm of Shristi Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd, has joined hands with global hospitality major Westin Hotels & Resorts, for the 323-key address which hopes to welcome guests by end-2011.
The twin towers of the G+35 hotel, a “bionic structure”, will boast a rooftop helipad, “a first by an Indian hotel”, and a high-tech fire-fighting system with Israeli collaboration, geared to evacuate 150 people in eight minutes.
This is the second hotel project with an overseas partner announced in Rajarhat in recent weeks, with Ambuja Realty confirming the Swissôtel Group as its hospitality partner for the five-star mall hotel atop City Centre 2.
The Shristi-Westin alliance on the eight-acre land parcel would be the first standalone deluxe five-star hotel in a Rajarhat rocked by lack of infrastructure and land-grab allegations.
Calcutta, languishing at a five-star room count of just over a thousand — about a ninth of Delhi’s — was promised an injection of at least 2,000 new star keys over a five-year timeframe. Going by today’s status, not even 20 per cent of that room rack will be ready by 2010.
DLF, which had pledged to bring three star hotels to Calcutta with a combined investment of Rs 1,000 crore, is yet to break ground.
Bengal Unitech Universal, committed to adding three properties in Rajarhat offering 500-plus keys among them, has only completed the foundation for the Marriott Courtyard in its IT park, with little signs of moving a step further.
Emaar-MGF, which made real estate history in Calcutta by quoting a record Rs 213 crore for a 6.24-acre plot on the Bypass, is also going slow on its double-header there — a JW Marriott and a Holiday Inn — with 250 keys each.
So why is the Shristi-Westin hotel taking the plunge? “The feasibility analysis by Deloitte has thrown up very encouraging potential for hotel rooms here,” said Sujit Kanoria, the managing director of Shristi Infrastructure Development.
Designed by the Spanish firm of Cervera & Pioz, which created the New York Stock Exchange and the Acropolis Museum in Greece, the star address is banking on “building with the bear and running with the bull”, says an industry veteran.
“Thanks to the small inventory size in Calcutta, there’s always room for more, despite the low energy. When the Shristi-Westin hotel will become operational, the overall economy would have turned the corner and the rest of the hotel projects would not be ready,” he added.
The hotel will have a wrap-around shopping and entertainment arcade with “an eclectic mix of live entertainment, fun and fine-dining outlets, speciality retail and state-of-the-art cinemas”.


Courtesy: THE TELEGRAPH

^^I wonder why our media is always behind on the happenings. They make it sound as though they are the front runners in announcing a project of this kind where-in the reality is that the construction has commenced a few months back on the Shristi site in New Town.

Godrej Prakriti, Sodepur

http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/6840/godrejprakritisodepur2.jpg (http://img519.imageshack.us/i/godrejprakritisodepur2.jpg/)

^^I wonder why our media is always behind on the happenings. They make it sound as though they are the front runners in announcing a project of this kind where-in the reality is that the construction has commenced a few months back on the Shristi site in New Town.

seriously dude..
this forum for me is the fastest means of getting information about different projects..
i think we have some media ppl here on the forum who take cues from here and then make a story out of it ;)

^^not me

Godrej Prakriti, Sodepur

http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/6840/godrejprakritisodepur2.jpg (http://img519.imageshack.us/i/godrejprakritisodepur2.jpg/)

these buildings look a lot like those of Eden City.

Talking of eden..

Source ("")


Eden, catch a sneak peek

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/4467/30zztodaybig.jpg

Pay-loaders at work amidst rubble of bricks and concrete where there used to be galleries. Workers with hammers on the prowl. A black skeleton where the giant scoreboard was.

Eden Gardens, 145 years young, is in makeover mode. For the four matches it will host during World Cup 2011. On the eve of a 13-member ICC panel’s visit to inspect the ground and its facilities, Metro takes stock of Eden, a work in progress.

Spectator comfort

The bill for the reconstruction of Eden is Rs 80 crore (approximately) with spectator comfort enjoying top billing.

All those concrete galleries that have skinned the knees of generations of fans will be pulled down and replaced with bucket seats. That will improve comfort, but reduce capacity — by around 10,000.

“We will construct a second tier in the J Block to make the capacity 90,000 again after the World Cup. But spectator comfort is our top priority,” said Bishwarup Dey, the joint secretary of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB).

Lack of leg space and the incline were the prime problems with the concrete seats, he conceded.

To add to the seating comfort in the all-new blue and gold galleries, ramps between the rows and the entry and exit points are being planned scientifically. “Modern and clean” toilets, sorely lacking at India’s favourite cricket ground, are being promised.

Add-ons

Coming up, two giant TV screens, new floodlight towers, a museum, a multi-gym, a dormitory for district players, modern dressing rooms and food courts. The VIP boxes will be given a snazzy look.

The drainage pipes will also be relaid. “An alternative route for draining out the water is being worked out with the civic authorities,” said P.R. Das, the engineering consultant of CAB.


Gallery makers

The tender for the makeover has been won by an Ahmedabad firm called VMS Engineering and Design, which works in collaboration with the US-based Burt Hill Design Private Limited. “Work on the galleries should be done by the end of 2010,” VMS director Hiten Shah told Metro from Ahmedabad.

VMS has Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad, in its portfolio.

No Mexican wave

Today’s pain is tomorrow’s gain, say the men at work, and so Eden will be cut to half its capacity for the India-Sri Lanka ODI on December 24.

“The lower tiers of blocks B and C to the right side of the Club House and blocks K and L to its left are being demolished. The upper tiers too will go. We are afraid capacity will be reduced to half for the Sri Lanka match,” said Dey.

With yawning gaps on either side of the Club House, spectators and TV watchers will miss the Mexican wave.

Fans will also have to do without the giant scoreboard, which is in the process of being converted to a giant screen.

Final over

“Overall, the renovated stadium will look superb. And we are, of course, keeping the basic structure intact for no one wants Eden Gardens to lose its traditional charm,” said Dey.

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/7008/30edn.jpg

^^thats not what it is supposed to look like....i thought eden was going to look different and will have a gold streak on it.

yes i saw the renders as well here in SSC..
the recent ones not even close to what it should have been..

these buildings look a lot like those of Eden City.

Nice update TODCREEN........Is there any source or website for this project??

SUN posted it dude..
anws the project' advertisement appeared in todays TOI on front page..
may you can find out there..

Godrej Genesis

http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/194/godrejgenesis.jpg (http://img689.imageshack.us/i/godrejgenesis.jpg/)

Godrej Genesis

http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/194/godrejgenesis.jpg (http://img689.imageshack.us/i/godrejgenesis.jpg/)

btw where is this property coming up in kolkata?

^probably in Sector V next to Godrej Waterside.

Wipro tables bid for Rajarhat plot
- 50 acres marked for IT major’s campus, price can still play the spoiler


The state government’s desperate bid to woo Wipro received a boost on Friday with the IT major putting in a formal request for land in Rajarhat.

The state IT department said a Wipro team inspected the plot earmarked for it in Action Area III and then met officials of Hidco, which owns the land in New Town, and submitted a request for 50 acres “at a concessional price”.

IT minister Debesh Das was quick to tout this as a turning point. “The decision of Wipro to start its second campus in Bengal is quite encouraging. I believe that this facility will augment employment opportunity to a considerable extent and boost the economic activities in the state,” he said.

Wipro, of course, was far more circumspect. “A special team visited Calcutta and the specific plot. They also met the IT minister. Things are moving but we are waiting for a detailed report from the team,” said a Wipro spokesperson.

The land identified for Wipro in Action Area III of New Town Rajarhat is near the Shapoorji Pallonji Mass Housing project. “It is a contiguous 50-acre land parcel in possession of Hidco, near the new expressway that is going to link Rajarhat to the airport,” said a Hidco official. “Wipro has seen the land and liked it. They have asked for a concessional price but haven’t defined what they mean by that.”

Price has always been the stumbling block, with Hidco initially not willing to lower the bar from Rs 2.16 crore per acre and IT majors Wipro and Infosys making it clear that they would only come in at a concessional price.

But now, the government, stung by the Vedic Village fiasco and embroiled in land acquisition controversies, is ready to blink if that means getting a Wipro or an Infosys as flagbearers for its industrialisation dreams in Rajarhat.

According to sources, Hidco is looking at a “concessional price” of around Rs 1.25 crore per acre. Wipro had earlier indicated that it was being offered land by other states at less than Rs 1 crore per acre. “Price has not been talked about yet,” said a Hidco official.

But that hasn’t stopped Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s IT team from ordering the bubbly.

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/8306/31wipro.jpg


COURTESY - THE TELEGRAPH

Godrej Genesis

http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/194/godrejgenesis.jpg (http://img689.imageshack.us/i/godrejgenesis.jpg/)

^^sleek. Looks similar in design to Godrej Simoco currently U/C next to Globsyn.

The land identified for Wipro in Action Area III of New Town Rajarhat is near the Shapoorji Pallonji Mass Housing project. “It is a contiguous 50-acre land parcel in possession of Hidco, near the new expressway that is going to link Rajarhat to the airport,” said a Hidco official. “Wipro has seen the land and liked it. They have asked for a concessional price but haven’t defined what they mean by that.”



Can someone please tell me more about the mentioned Rajarhat-Airport Expressway. Will it directly connect to the airport and run parallel to VIP road?? And whats the staus of it. Heard it got cancelled?

^^sleek. Looks similar in design to Godrej Simoco currently U/C next to Globsyn.
Can any one send any pictures of the above mentioned Goodrej simoco building U/C next to globsyn???

Blueprint to decongest Dunlop

Around 35 per cent of the project cost of Rs 18 crore will be borne by the state and the rest by the Centre. A source said a “high-powered committee” of urban planners had cleared the project at a meeting on October 26.

“The ramp and the slip road form part of our holistic approach to managing traffic in and around Dunlop. We are also constructing a flyover which will connect PWD Road at the Dakshineswar end with BT Road near the ISI campus. Traffic at and around the Dunlop crossing will be reduced significantly once all three roads — the ramp, the tunnelled slip road and the flyover — are unveiled,” said Dibyendu Pal, an executive engineer of the PWD’s north suburban division.

An expert in surface transport, however, expressed doubts whether the projects would serve their purpose of taking some load off BT Road. To prove his point, he cited a recommendation of the Indian Road Congress that BT Road should have at least eight lanes by 2020.

“This could turn out to be yet another instance of myopic plan, just like the Bypass that is now having to be widened and the AJC Bose Road flyover that must have a few more ramps,” he added.

The 360-metre ramp, which will descend from a point on the expressway between Dakshineswar and Dunlop, will meet BT Road near the state transport corporation depot.

An official in the public works department said the one-way ramp, comprising two lanes, would be taken by vehicles bound for Barrackpore, Kalyani or other areas on the northern fringes from Nivedita Setu (new Bally bridge).

This will be the first ramp of the highroad which was built to connect Barasat to Delhi and Mumbai roads.

Now, north-bound vehicles from Nivedita Setu access BT Road via PWD Road, adding to the chaos at the congested Dunlop crossing. “The ramp will allow north-bound commuters from across the river to skirt the perennially-clogged Dunlop intersection,” said a PWD officer.

Also as part of the project, there will be a 100-metre road of two lanes branching off BT Road to the east near the L9 bus-stop and meeting the artery again close to the Indian Statistical Institute campus.

Under the Expressway and the adjacent railway bridge, the road will pass through a tunnel.

“Like the ramp, the road too will enable vehicles, south-bound ones in this case, to avoid the Dunlop crossing and also the part of BT Road right under the railway bridge where two concrete pillars on the flanks have narrowed the carriageway considerably,” said Arup Dey, a senior PWD engineer.

The tunnel will be bored through one of the pillars of the bridge using “cutting-edge technology and pre-fabricated box structures”. The government has estimated that around Rs 4 crore will be required to lay the road, excluding a “small amount” to procure three acres of railway land.


http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/3654/02zzdunlop.jpg




Courtesy: THE TELEGRAPH

Star hotel gears up for Gariahat

A 100-room hotel in the heart of south Calcutta, classifying itself as “five-star boutique”, is gearing up to be guest-ready by end-2010.

The Rs 265-crore hospitality address coming up on a 50-cottah land parcel next to the Gariahat Pantaloons outlet at 17 Garcha First Lane, is being developed by Mukti Projects Ltd, makers of the Mukti World shopping and multiplex centre nearby.

“We want to deliver a cosy, internationally benchmarked hotel that has been concept-designed in Singapore and detailed by city-based architect-cum-interiors specialist Vinoo Chadha,” Raj Kumar Gupta, the chairman and managing director of the Mukti group, told Metro.

“The design is very contemporary and minimalist. We have created a sense of depth and volume in the lobby. There’ll be a novel infinity pool on the landscaped terrace, besides a club lounge and spa,” said Chadha.

Coming close on the heels of two hotels — Ambuja Realty’s Swissôtel and the Shristi-Westin property — being announced in Rajarhat, the city’s realty fraternity is eyeing the Ballygunge hotel as a welcome energiser.

“This would be the first organised luxury hotel in the heart of south Calcutta and would complement the upcoming Taj Gateway Hotel on the Ruby connector and together, would expand the hospitality/F&B market in that catchment,” feels Abhijit Das of property consultants Lemongrass Advisors Pvt Ltd.

Industry watchers are also bullish about the 100-key ITC Fortune hotel, being constructed by renovating Rutt Din on Loudon Street, and the Swabhumi hospitality project of Ambuja Realty.

A clutch of five-star hotel projects, which were announced with much fanfare along the Bypass corridor and in Rajarhat, have failed to take off, putting paid to projections of 2,000 keys being added to the city’s star hotel ring within five years.

Against the projected growth of 20-30 per cent two years ago, occupancy slumped around 20 per cent.

Even if the 4,000 proposed rooms across all segments are added to the city’s organised hospitality inventory of 2,200-odd, the sum total would still be only half that of Bangalore’s present capacity and a mere five per cent of Bangkok’s.


http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/8241/02metmuktihotel1.jpg



Courtesy: THE TELEGRAPH

Can any one send any pictures of the above mentioned Goodrej simoco building U/C next to globsyn???

^^I had posted the update and the render on July 26th in this thread

http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/3901/godrejsimoco01.jpg

Render
cc - http://www.agrawalarchitects.com

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/6791/godrejsimoco.jpg

yes i saw the renders as well here in SSC..
the recent ones not even close to what it should have been..

This is so disappointing. After all the talk of a "world class" stadium and assurances of a full scale renovation it looks like we're getting new seats, new scoreboard, and a paint job. Forget that it doesn't look like the other published rendering... it hardly looks any different than it does today.

This is so disappointing. After all the talk of a "world class" stadium and assurances of a full scale renovation it looks like we're getting new seats, new scoreboard, and a paint job. Forget that it doesn't look like the other published rendering... it hardly looks any different than it does today.

this calls for an andolan. meet me tomorrow 7pm sharp infront of the Cricket Board of Bengal's Office.

It was great to see the new IT parks and the hotels .
But any updates on any new investments in Kolkata / West Bengal at large?

I know the impact of recession was there for the last 1 year, but sometime early last year Debesh Das went to Silicon Valley to woo some product companies. Any updates on that?

Heard that Cap Gemini and Genpact has taken multiple floors in Unitech IT Park Phase 1?
Any idea who occupied the newly constructed Ambuja IT Park?
Beside the service providing MNCs that we have in Kolkata, is there any news of any high-end, high paying product companies setting up bases in Kolkata?

Anyone know the name of the architect who did Science City?

^^I had posted the update and the render on July 26th in this thread

http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/3901/godrejsimoco01.jpg

Render
cc - http://www.agrawalarchitects.com

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/6791/godrejsimoco.jpg
thanks Arijeet...it seems the construction just started..only first two floors have been completed. From the render it seems the building should be near about a 20 fl structure. any idea about the completion date?? Nice to see so many nice structure coming up in Saltlake sector V. I also think in the same line of Ana355. Kolkata really needs investment from some high-end, high paying product company. That would really help kolkata to compete with NCR, chennai etc.....

thanks Arijeet...it seems the construction just started..only first two floors have been completed. From the render it seems the building should be near about a 20 fl structure. any idea about the completion date?? Nice to see so many nice structure coming up in Saltlake sector V. I also think in the same line of Ana355. Kolkata really needs investment from some high-end, high paying product company. That would really help kolkata to compete with NCR, chennai etc.....

^^yes, stranger99 - kolkata needs some big ticket investments post the recession, to me it does not matter where they come from - as long as qualified jobs are generated.

Also looks like Godrej Genesis and Simoco are probably the same as per this article
http://www.indiaprwire.com/pressrelease/real-estate/2009103136687.htm

OMG OMG OMG OMG

I came upon a awesome project update...but this is a little outdated.

A French filmmaker in Kolkata pondering on the affect of India's first book mall.
Heres the video of the site...you can see that the book market has been torn down and how large the BOOK MALL is going to be..i think the first phase is almost finished though.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xadxkv_kolkata-city-of-books-city-of-chang_shortfilms?from=rss

Hi everybody

Shriram Group To Invest Rs.1,600 Cr. In West Bengal
Wednesday November 04, 2009 00:38:00 EST
(RTTNews) - Chennai-based Rs.40,000-crore Shriram Group said it plans to pump in around Rs.1,600 crore to set up India's first-ever coal gasification project in Haldia in West Bengal, using Lurgi technology. The investment comes at a time when a number of big projects were shelved due to the political uncertainty in that state, media reports said.


The group had already floated Haldia Chemicals Ltd. for its proposed venture in Bengal.


In case the the project materializes, it will be third project of the Shriram Group in Bengal. It is investing around Rs.2,000 crore for setting up an IT and auto component park in Uttarpara. It had already invested Rs.1,000 crore in a 1-3 lakh tonne coke oven plant at Haldia, and commenced metallurgical coke production.


Director of Haldia Chemicals, Ganesh Natarajan, said the company had already identified a 100-acre plot for the gasification project, adding that the Haldia Development Authority has promised to hand over the land in a few months.


Shriram Group offered 5% stake or more in the gasification venture to West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation or WBIDC, Natarajan said.


The company plans to commence operations by end-2010. The plant will have a daily production capacity of 1,50 tonnes. The ammonia produced in this project can be used in fertilizer and other industries.


Shriram Group intends to source coal from Mahanadi Coalfields or MCL that is suited for the gasification project.


For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com

Copyright(c) 2009 RTTNews.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Videocon to set up IT park in Kolkata

Consumer electronics major Videocon group has firmed up its plans to enter into the state IT sector in Kolkata. The Rs 15,000 crore group plans to
set up its own IT facility at the upcoming IT Park at Salt Lake in Kolkata.

Talking to ET, Videocon group chairman Venugopal Dhoot said, ”We want to set up our own IT facility at our upcoming Rs 800 crore Salt Lake IT Park. We are still working on it. I can’t comment whether it will be a software development centre or an ITeS outfit at this juncture. We are extremely upbeat that this IT Park will generate employment opportunities for quite a large group of people.”

The Videocon group chairman, however, brushed aside industry rumours about his company acquiring some IT firm in the US. “We will enter the IT sector on our own. We have no plans to acquire a US-based IT company,” he added.

Videocon is setting up a 24-storeyed IT park at Salt Lake, where it has a consumer electronics factory. The total built-up area of the IT Park is 38 million sq ft. The cost of the project has been pegged at Rs 800 crore. Consulting Engineering Services has been appointed consultant for the project.

Shapoorji Pallonji is doing the construction work for the project, which is slated to be completed by end of 2010.
According to company sources work is going ahead as per schedule. Cushman and Wakefield, the global real estate consultant, is helping Videocon to locate IT clients who can be housed in the upcoming Salt Lake IT Park.

Incidentally, the Salt Lake consumer electronics factory, which the company took over from Philips in 1999, currently produces 50,000 colour television (CTV) sets per month. The CTVs are produced under the brandnames - Videocon, Akai and Sansui. The factory also produces refrigerators and washing machines. The total production of refrigerators and washing machines put together is in the region of 15,000 per month.

Traffic rejig for AJC Bose Road flyover ramp

Police have drawn a traffic diversion plan for AJC Bose Road, set to take effect from the weekend, to facilitate the construction of a north-bound ramp of the flyover at the Beckbagan end.

Work on the 425m-long ramp, which will take off from a spot close to the AJC Bose Road-Theatre Road crossing, was twice deferred last year. The project cost has been estimated at Rs 18 crore.

It’s not clear yet how long the diversion will remain in force for the police and HRBC, the executing agency of the project, are speaking in different voices.

Deputy commissioner (traffic) Dilip Banerjee said the authorities have been asked to wrap up work before the exam season begins in February.

But HRBC vice-chairman Sadhan Banerjee clarified that even if work progressed unhindered, it would take at least a year to complete the ramp.

Officers privy to the diversion plan said north-bound cars, taxis and two-wheelers plying down AJC Bose Road would be stopped at the Rawdon Street crossing.

From 7am to 1 pm, the vehicles would take Camac Street or Rawdon Street before hitting AJC Bose Road again through Theatre Road. Post-1pm, the vehicles will be diverted to Park Street through Rawdon Street before heading for AJC Bose Road.

“The increased traffic volume on Rawdon Street will add to the chaos around the La Martiniere schools,” admitted an officer.

“As for buses and minibuses, the north-bound ones will not be allowed to enter AJC Bose Road from the Exide crossing once the diversion takes effect,” said an officer. “They will proceed to Esplanade down JL Nehru Road.” Shyambazar-bound buses from Ballygunge Circular Road and Sarat Bose Road will turn left after hitting AJC Bose Road and then head north down JL Nehru Road.

"Lets hope that this time it works out.......:dunno::bash:"


now this is the diverted route.....

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/289/4zzajcroada.jpg

Anyone know the name of the architect who did Science City?

As far as I know it was DCL (Development Consultants Ltd), later became Development Architects

IT firm Tech Mahindra on Wednesday said it has opened a BPO centre in Kolkata with the initial capacity of 1,000 seats.


The facility would focus on providing customer service delivery to telecom service providers and primarily be servicing Reliance Communications' operations in the first phase, the company said in a statement.

The Kolkata centre would cater to other clients in the future, it added.

The centre would have about 1,000 seats in the initial ramp up with 500 seats coming up in end July 2009 and another 500 in the end August 2009.

The firm already has centres in Noida, Chandigarh, Pune and Chennai and two overseas centres in Belfast and New Castle.

Tech Mahindra President (Corporate Affairs) Sujit Baksi said: "Tech Mahindra has always expanded in major cities around India to leverage the availability of local skilled staff. This centre allows us to spread our operations in Eastern India in a big way and we are keen to tap the local talent pool in this region to make this centre a major hub that will service other telecom service providers in this region as well."

:bash:
:bash:
:bash:
In 2004, Wipro chairman Azim Premji had called Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee the best CM in the country. Cut to 2009, and it took an entire month of
persuasion by the chief minister himself to convince Wipro to set up its long-announced second campus in Kolkata.

Wipro turns out to be the only firm willing to brave the uncertain situation in Bengal.

Everyone else is making every excuse possible to delay their promised investments, leave alone announce new ones. The damage to Bengal and Bengal's job-seeking youth: investments worth Rs 100,000 crore have been put on hold. The cash box is locked and won't be opened before 2011 when the state goes to the polls.

Be it the Rs 35,000cr integrated steel project of the JSW Group, or Videocon's Rs 20,000cr steel and power ventures, or Abhijjit Group's Rs 10,000cr proposed steel unit, all of them are waiting for things to improve.

The precarious law and order situation, infighting within the Left, ministerial bickerings, a weak government and its hesitancy to take any decision have left businessmen with hardly any choice. Everyone is going slow because the ground conditions are too turbulent, the head of a diversified conglomerate said.

Many industrialists, who till the 2009 Lok Sabha elections would have given an arm and a leg to be seen close to Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, have suddenly found other pressing engagements. They would rather use the time building (or mending) bridges with Mamata Banerjee, who they accused as anti-industry till the other day.

Check out the list of bad news for investors and businessmen in the last year. The Nano pullout in October 2008 was a devastating blow that started the downhill tumble. Less than a month after that, when the CM was returning from the inauguration of the Jindal Steel Plant, the high-profile convoy was ambushed by Maoists. Among those who had a narrow escape were Sajjan and Naveen Jindal, two Union ministers and the CM. JSW issued statements saying it had no security concerns in Bengal, but the biz world was rattled. Since then, steel projects worth Rs 100,000 crore have been put on hold, mostly due to acquisition problems.

The Vedic Village rampage, which started as a mob attack over a local dispute, opened a can of worms that the government failed to manage. Its ministers squabbled publicly as dirty land deals tumbled out in the open. It led to the scrapping of the IT township. And this year, the Indonesian Salim Group on whom Bhattacharjee had banked much of his industrialization dream scrapped its prestigious projects. The honeymoon with the Left seems to be over.

"Our chief minister promised a lot of things but failed to deliver," a leading industrialist said.

Visits to Writers' Buildings to meet the CM have considerably lessened since May 16, when the results of the general elections were announced. The huge turnout on August 21 at Mamata's first interaction with business leaders since her party's election triumph was a clear indicator of the changing mood. The CM is still trying everything to push forward the industrialization dream. But it may be far too late in the day, and too little.

http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/303/81167081.jpg


http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/5236/90341971.jpg


These pics were taken lst week

http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/303/81167081.jpg


http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/5236/90341971.jpg


These pics were taken lst week

Nice udate

:banana:
:nuts:
An Indo-Russian JV, Ural India Ltd is currently planned to build small cars at Haldia in West Bengal during this year and would also be conducting road show to familiar and get feedback from its prospective customers. The company might reveal two small cars for India.


The company claims that the mould and metal sheet will be imported and the tyres, gears and engine would be produced locally. The small car is estimated to be priced at Rs 1.60 Lakh, thought it is not announced officially where the West Bengal state government hold at 11% stake.

Ural India Ltd is focussing to launch two models, one with Ac and the other without Ac and there would also a facility to switch over to LPG models as well. There is no word about its tie-up with the Chinese auto giant, FAW Corporation.

FAW (First Auto Work) have reportedly signed a MOU to setup a manufacturing facility in West Bengal. The amount earmarked for the proposed JV is Rs 1500 Crore and the price of the entry-level-low-cost is estimated to be around Rs 1.6 Lakh. It is widely believed the JV will initially be rolling out the small car, followed by trucks, buses and minibuses. Sources on condition of anonymity have revealed that the proposed project would take at least 18 months to begin production. The Chinese public sector automobile company is eyeing to set up the unit either at Singur, or at Haldia, adjacent to Ural’s existing truck assembling unit. Currently, the officials of FAW are hobnobbing with the West Bengal government officials and are reportedly seeking approximately 600 acres of land.

:banana:
:nuts:
An Indo-Russian JV, Ural India Ltd is currently planned to build small cars at Haldia in West Bengal during this year and would also be conducting road show to familiar and get feedback from its prospective customers. The company might reveal two small cars for India.


The company claims that the mould and metal sheet will be imported and the tyres, gears and engine would be produced locally. The small car is estimated to be priced at Rs 1.60 Lakh, thought it is not announced officially where the West Bengal state government hold at 11% stake.

Ural India Ltd is focussing to launch two models, one with Ac and the other without Ac and there would also a facility to switch over to LPG models as well. There is no word about its tie-up with the Chinese auto giant, FAW Corporation.

FAW (First Auto Work) have reportedly signed a MOU to setup a manufacturing facility in West Bengal. The amount earmarked for the proposed JV is Rs 1500 Crore and the price of the entry-level-low-cost is estimated to be around Rs 1.6 Lakh. It is widely believed the JV will initially be rolling out the small car, followed by trucks, buses and minibuses. Sources on condition of anonymity have revealed that the proposed project would take at least 18 months to begin production. The Chinese public sector automobile company is eyeing to set up the unit either at Singur, or at Haldia, adjacent to Ural’s existing truck assembling unit. Currently, the officials of FAW are hobnobbing with the West Bengal government officials and are reportedly seeking approximately 600 acres of land.

dude post Bengal related updates/news in the West Bengal Projects Update (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=201672) thread

The city’s biggest Big Bazaar is likely to become operational by this year-end. The mall is coming up at the Sealdah court-cum-commercial complex that has been lying in neglect for years. This would be the first public-private partnership project for the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) in retailing.
The joint venture project, between KMDA, Kaventer and Future group has been delayed
for more than a year and a half for several reasons, including the recession.
“We are now optimistic about opening the mall by the end of 2009. There has been a little delay in opening due to lack of permissions, various clearances and failure to overcome some technical hurdles,” said Kaventer group chairman M K Jalan. Kaventer and Future group have an equal share of 50% each in the project.
According to plans, the shopping mall would come up on the five floors including the ground floor. The building is nine-storeys high and has been lying idle for years. The basement would have a car park that would accommodate about 150 cars. The entire ground floor would be occupied by Big Bazaar while other offices will come up in the remaining four floors. The total area is 1.33 lakh square feet and approximately Rs 130 crore would be invested in the project. The land would be handed over to the consortium on a 99-year lease.

Source: TOI

hi,

can anyone of u provide me with updates regarding the progress on modernization of the kolkata airport?

There is a seperate thread in Aviation and airports on the kolkata airport.All updates are posted there.

The city’s biggest Big Bazaar is likely to become operational by this year-end. The mall is coming up at the Sealdah court-cum-commercial complex that has been lying in neglect for years. This would be the first public-private partnership project for the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) in retailing.
The joint venture project, between KMDA, Kaventer and Future group has been delayed
for more than a year and a half for several reasons, including the recession.
“We are now optimistic about opening the mall by the end of 2009. There has been a little delay in opening due to lack of permissions, various clearances and failure to overcome some technical hurdles,” said Kaventer group chairman M K Jalan. Kaventer and Future group have an equal share of 50% each in the project.
According to plans, the shopping mall would come up on the five floors including the ground floor. The building is nine-storeys high and has been lying idle for years. The basement would have a car park that would accommodate about 150 cars. The entire ground floor would be occupied by Big Bazaar while other offices will come up in the remaining four floors. The total area is 1.33 lakh square feet and approximately Rs 130 crore would be invested in the project. The land would be handed over to the consortium on a 99-year lease.

Source: TOI

^^this is "Diamond Prestige" with restoration/renovation is being done by diamond group.

There is a seperate thread in Aviation and airports on the kolkata airport.All updates are posted there.



thnx avisar :)

Bengal Shelter Panthapadap Shopping Complex at Madhyamgram

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/7540/pp1v.jpg (http://img5.imageshack.us/i/pp1v.jpg/)

Status as on 26th October, 2009

http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/4338/pp2y.jpg (http://img42.imageshack.us/i/pp2y.jpg/)

Can anyone of u could provide me with the list of upcoming flovers????

both u/c and forthcoming

Axis Mall, New Town - AA1
Photo copyright - arijeetb

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/1627/axismall.jpg

NBCC Vibgyor -U/C- the colors of the rainbow taking shape
photo copyright - arijeetb

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/848/nbccvibgyor.jpg

RMZ Ecospace -U/C
photo copyright - arijeetb


http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/9421/ecospace04.jpg

http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/8370/ecospace05.jpg

New Town roads - U/C
photo copyright - arijeetb

http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/6899/6laning.jpg

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/5825/aa0101.jpg

Tata Cancer hospital- U/C
photo copyright - arijeetb

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/7795/tatacancerhospital03.jpg

Uniworld city- U/C
photo copyright - arijeetb

http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/197/uniworld01.jpg

:cheers: :cheers: :cheers::cheers:

The rail minister Ms. Mamata Banerjee has passed the bill regarding the extention of Kolkata Metro on the following route:

1> Dumdum - Baranagar
2> Baranagar - Dakhineshwar
3> Baranagar - Barasat
4> Dumdum - Barackpore


Work is to be started in the beginning of 2010 :lol:

:cheers: :cheers: :cheers::cheers:

The rail minister Ms. Mamata Banerjee has passed the bill regarding the extention of Kolkata Metro on the following route:

1> Dumdum - Baranagar
2> Baranagar - Dakhineshwar
3> Baranagar - Barasat
4> Dumdum - Barackpore


Work is to be started in the beginning of 2010 :lol:

^^There is a seperate thread for metro in transportation forum. Also when you post you are expected to give a reference to the source of the news.

Very nice update by Arijeet and all. Thanks a lot guys for keeping this thread active. I was in a long leave(after the Pujo) and unfortunately I missed many of the discussions here. Hope you all guys enjoyed your Pujo a lot. :cheers:

brilliant updates arijeet.. :cheers:

Very nice update by Arijeet and all. Thanks a lot guys for keeping this thread active. I was in a long leave(after the Pujo) and unfortunately I missed many of the discussions here. Hope you all guys enjoyed your Pujo a lot. :cheers:

thanks Saraf! And welcome back:)

brilliant updates arijeet.. :cheers:

thanks sid:cheers:

Very nice update by Arijeet and all. Thanks a lot guys for keeping this thread active. I was in a long leave(after the Pujo) and unfortunately I missed many of the discussions here. Hope you all guys enjoyed your Pujo a lot. :cheers:

hope u had a great vacation..
the thread missed u ;)

thanks Saraf! And welcome back:)

hope u had a great vacation..
the thread missed u ;)

Thanks guys. Yes, I had a great time. Yesterday I returned back from Paro(Bhutan) after a 19 days of Bhutan tour :banana: I will post the photos of my tour.

Btw, I lost my small sony camera during the pujo. :ohno: There were few cool photos of like flyover construction, ew metro, city centre II, new buses and many of the pujo pandals etc. All gone.. :ohno:

Elita Garden Vista- U/C
photo copyright - arijeetb

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/3029/elita01.jpg

Some cranes seen at the 50 acre SP Infocity site
photo copyright - arijeetb

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/9464/spinfocity02.jpg

Tomorrow's skyline - Rosedale and Uniworld city
photo copyright - arijeetb

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/8886/uniworld03.jpg

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/3594/uniworld04.jpg

The land across the road from SP infocity which is being proposed to Wipro
photo copyright - arijeetb

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/2946/wiproland.jpg

^^Great. How many acres of land it has. Any idea?

^^Great. How many acres of land it has. Any idea?

50 is what is being proposed

The land across the road from SP infocity which is being proposed to Wipro
photo copyright - arijeetb

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/2946/wiproland.jpg

Can you please mark this piece of land in wikimapia, so that it's easy to visualise. And what happened to the SP Infocity project. Is work going on or it has been put on hold?

Great updates ArijeetB.

Saraf welcome back. Sorry to hear about the missing camera.

NBCC Vibgyor -U/C- the colors of the rainbow taking shape
photo copyright - arijeetb

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/848/nbccvibgyor.jpg
This is a nice update. A reminder in USA VIBGYOR is written as ROYGBIV.It is just the reverse of British terminology VIBGYOR.^^

NBCC Vibgyor -U/C- the colors of the rainbow taking shape
photo copyright - arijeetb

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/848/nbccvibgyor.jpg

BTW in which part of Rajarhat is this VIBGYOR project coming up?

City Centre 2

photo copyright prebabprocessing

http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/4389/citycenterprepabprocess.jpg (http://img81.imageshack.us/i/citycenterprepabprocess.jpg/)

BTW in which part of Rajarhat is this VIBGYOR project coming up?

action area 1

RMZ Ecospace -U/C
photo copyright - arijeetb


http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/9421/ecospace04.jpg

http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/8370/ecospace05.jpg
great pictures arijeet...keep it up.

Lol ... this is FUGLY new ... wot's it gonna be like ... after a few Monsoons.
also, I noticed ... the arch./builders ... went out of their way ... to FUGLY ... d bldg.

Hope better sense prevails later, they turn balconies into glass, square up the windows and whitewash the whole thing ... OMG!

-
/>/\\//\/\/

Thank you very much arijeetB. You have done a great job by putting so many updates.

welcome back Saraf. Your absence was felt everyday. I feel sorry about your lost camera.

Source (http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-146015.html)


Howrah gets Rupees 61 crore multi-specialty hospital
Kolkata, Nov 7 : Howrah is all set to get its first multi-specialty hospital having treatments like radio-therapy with Linear Accelerator, invasive cardiology along with cardio-thoracic surgery and other modern facilties by mid-2011 as the Westbank Group will establish their second venture in the district at a cost of Rupees 61 crore.


The hospital, initially a 200-bed facility, will be built on a total area of 1.5 lakh sq ft, and later upgraded to 400 beds, a release issued by the Westbank group said.

Chairman of the hospital Bicky Chakraborty said the new establishment will be the first modern hospital offering treatments in all disciplines for the district population outside the Kolkata metro.

Speaking on the occasion, Executive Director of Westbank Hospitals Ashis Chakroborty said, ''This hospital has been established with a view to making available the best medical facilities to the people in the districts. They are often the ones who suffer because of inadequate medical support.'' The Westbank group also has a plan to start free bus services to ferry patients from Howrah stations and various populous junctions in the city like Dalhousie and Sector V.

Great update pictures ArijeetB..........Thanks:cheers:

Thank you sidney

dude..
upload the image on some image hosting website like imageshack and then enclose the image url within the image tags..

Thank you very much arijeetB. You have done a great job by putting so many updates.

welcome back Saraf. Your absence was felt everyday. I feel sorry about your lost camera.

Thanks a lot Samrat. I too missed you guys a lot..

The iconic torchshaped air traffic control (ATC) tower that was to be the crowning glory of the modern Kolkata airport may be put in the backburner if the Airport Authority of India (AAI) fails to raise funds from the market through infrastructure bonds.
AAI is desperate to raise Rs 5,000 crore to meet the funding gap in a planned expenditure of Rs 12,500 crore for modernizing 40 airports, including Kolkata. But with the Centre yet to give its nod, AAI may be forced to shelve some projects and the fancy ATC tower could be a casualty.
In September, AAI chairman V P Agrawal had spelt out the agency’s crisis. “Meeting the revenue gap is critical for AAI to continue work on ongoing projects. We have been holding back new projects for four to five months and don’t intend to take them up till the revenue shortfall is met,” he had said.
Though Agrawal insisted Kolkata and Chennai airports that were flagship projects would continue as scheduled, sources said non-critical areas of the project could take the hit to keep the essential sections going. In Kolkata, the integrated terminal is the primary requirement to create additional passenger capacity.

Source: TOI

Down but not yet out.

That’s the message coming in from the city’s IT sector — which despite the heavy battering on account of the general economic downturn, accentuated by heightened anxiety about the state’s business climate — has not just managed to keep its head above water, but actually grow in the first six months of the current financial year.
During April-September 2009, units registered with the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) scheme in Kolkata climbed 22.5% to Rs 2,715 crore from Rs 2,215 crore in the same period last year, on the back of the trusted trio of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), IBM and Cognizant.
STPI Kolkata in-charge Manjeet Nayak said what was more significant was that the Rs 2,715 crore figure did not include the performance of Wipro’s Sector V unit as it is an SEZ, whose exports are computed separately. “If Wipro is also taken into account, software exports from the city would have easily crossed Rs 3,000 crore in the first half of this financial year,” he said.
Nayak said TCS, as in the past, was the best performer “in volume terms” during April-September 2009, with exports of Rs 1,030.31 crore from Kolkata during this period. IBM was second at Rs 503 crore and Cognizant next at Rs 375.18 crore, he added.
“We are hopeful about growth continuing in the current half,” Nayak said, while not hazarding a guess on what the final figure is likely to be. TCS, IBM and Cognizant have historically cumulatively accounted for about 70% of exports from the city’s software technology park.
“There will be a re-tendering to choose a developer for the IT infrastructure project being jointly engaged in by Webel and STPI,” Nayak said. The proposed facility would have 7-8 lakh sq ft of built-up space for use by tech companies, and would come up within excess land lying around in the STPI complex here, he added.

Source: TOI

Down but not yet out.

That’s the message coming in from the city’s IT sector — which despite the heavy battering on account of the general economic downturn, accentuated by heightened anxiety about the state’s business climate — has not just managed to keep its head above water, but actually grow in the first six months of the current financial year.
During April-September 2009, units registered with the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) scheme in Kolkata climbed 22.5% to Rs 2,715 crore from Rs 2,215 crore in the same period last year, on the back of the trusted trio of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), IBM and Cognizant.
STPI Kolkata in-charge Manjeet Nayak said what was more significant was that the Rs 2,715 crore figure did not include the performance of Wipro’s Sector V unit as it is an SEZ, whose exports are computed separately. “If Wipro is also taken into account, software exports from the city would have easily crossed Rs 3,000 crore in the first half of this financial year,” he said.
Nayak said TCS, as in the past, was the best performer “in volume terms” during April-September 2009, with exports of Rs 1,030.31 crore from Kolkata during this period. IBM was second at Rs 503 crore and Cognizant next at Rs 375.18 crore, he added.
“We are hopeful about growth continuing in the current half,” Nayak said, while not hazarding a guess on what the final figure is likely to be. TCS, IBM and Cognizant have historically cumulatively accounted for about 70% of exports from the city’s software technology park.
“There will be a re-tendering to choose a developer for the IT infrastructure project being jointly engaged in by Webel and STPI,” Nayak said. The proposed facility would have 7-8 lakh sq ft of built-up space for use by tech companies, and would come up within excess land lying around in the STPI complex here, he added.

Source: TOI

Now, thats some good news :)

Heard some stuff recently but not sure about the authenticity of the news.
So wanted to verify in the forum if anybody has more concrete info.

Am hearing for a pretty long time that Cap Gemini is planning to move out of Kolkata. But in the last 1 year saw a few people joining there and heard that CG has taken nearly 2 L sq feet of space in Unitech IT park. So as of now, I am pretty much doubtful about the original rumour.

Heard that SP Infotech city has been denotified as an IT-only zone and the SP group has decided to turn into a commercial place comprising non-IT players also. If anybody can throw some light, that will be great.

Any idea about the occupants in the newly opened Bengal Ambuja IT Park and in the scores of office complexes that are getting completed / on the verge of completion in and around Ruby Hospital.? I am hoping that they are going to get occupied by set of companies who will perhaps be investing for the first time in Kolkata.

Heard some stuff recently but not sure about the authenticity of the news.
So wanted to verify in the forum if anybody has more concrete info.

Am hearing for a pretty long time that Cap Gemini is planning to move out of Kolkata. But in the last 1 year saw a few people joining there and heard that CG has taken nearly 2 L sq feet of space in Unitech IT park. So as of now, I am pretty much doubtful about the original rumour.

Heard that SP Infotech city has been denotified as an IT-only zone and the SP group has decided to turn into a commercial place comprising non-IT players also. If anybody can throw some light, that will be great.

Any idea about the occupants in the newly opened Bengal Ambuja IT Park and in the scores of office complexes that are getting completed / on the verge of completion in and around Ruby Hospital.? I am hoping that they are going to get occupied by set of companies who will perhaps be investing for the first time in Kolkata.

I did read the news about CG planning to take up 2L sqft several months back. The pace of construction in Infospace is slow so I am not sure when that whole space wil be utilized.

RMZ Ecospace is supposed to be having the back office for HDFC and also Mcnealy and Thysenkrupp ( or something similar ). This is one project where construction is going on pretty fast.

Regarding SP Infocity it is news to me, construction seems to have just started and I am not sure of any takers for the space.

I didn't know any move out plan of CG. Anyway, I think CTS bantala campus is almost completed and many of the employees moved to the campus already.

A new Metro connection is set to take off soon to make the airport commute smoother for fliers.

A Rs 300-crore proposal has been sent to the Railway Board to convert the airport’s suburban rail link into a Metro route extending till Noapara, where a new station would be built.

A walkalator — similar to the escalator except that it covers horizontal instead of vertical distance — will also be installed from Biman Bandar station to the new integrated airport terminal to spare passengers the trouble of walking some distance with luggage.

One of the problems being faced by inbound passengers using the suburban train service is the distance from the terminal to the station that has to be covered on foot and then the steep climb to first-floor level.

“The Metro conversion proposal was sent to Delhi recently after a survey. The connection is being planned in such a way that fliers from the southern and northern suburbs of the city would prefer to take the Metro to the airport instead of going by car,” a senior official of Metro Railway said on Tuesday.

Railway Board sources said the proposal was likely to be approved soon.

“We want Metro connectivity to the airport to be ready by the time the integrated terminal comes up,” an official said from New Delhi.

The commissioning target for the integrated terminal is May 2011.

Eastern Railway runs nine pairs of trains between Dum Dum and Biman Bandar stations but there are very few takers for the service.

“We hardly get passengers on this route, which explains why the frequency of trains has not been increased all these years,” said an official of Eastern Railway.

According to Metro Railway’s proposal, the existing track from Dum Dum Cantonment to the airport will be retained because both Metro and suburban trains run on broad gauge lines.

“The existing overhead power supply will have to be replaced with the third-rail power supply system that our rakes require,” explained a Metro Railway engineer.

The elevated track laid a few years ago was merged with the suburban line near Dum Dum Cantonment.

A Metro station at Noapara will be the passenger interchange point. “One of the platforms will be used for trains bound for the airport while the other will be for those headed for Dum Dum Junction and onward to Garia,” an official said.

The route could be stretched from Noapara to Baranagar later.

According to officials, the new line would be aligned with the airport terminal for the convenience of passengers. The international terminal is presently around 200 metres from the station.

Once the new terminal comes up, it will be shifted by another 200 metres from the station.

“Accordingly, the station will also be shifted, aligning it with the terminal so that the distance will remain 200 metres. Walkalators will allow passengers to carry luggage without any problem,” an official said.
Source: The telegraph

Godrej Waterside (Two Towers - 11fl and 19fl)


http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/4346/gw1l.jpg (http://img5.imageshack.us/i/gw1l.jpg/)

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/7208/gw2i.jpg (http://img39.imageshack.us/i/gw2i.jpg/)

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/1258/gw3.jpg (http://img20.imageshack.us/i/gw3.jpg/)

great picture Rupakd......what is the status of the construction??

great picture Rupakd......what is the status of the construction??

Thanks Stranger99........as per the website the construction status is as follows:

Tower-I ready for fit outs.
Tower-II to be ready by 2010.

Thanks Stranger99........as per the website the construction status is as follows:

Tower-I ready for fit outs.
Tower-II to be ready by 2010.

^^I went by the site sometime back. I do not think tower1 will be ready by the end of the year. Tower 2 progress is also slow

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Is there any information update about Novotel Kolkata Hotel??....
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Uniworld city is gonna be a decent skyline :)

Anybody knows about the status of the propose Biswa Banga Shikhar ?

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Is there any information update about Novotel Kolkata Hotel??....
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^^yes. It is being constructed by Salarpuria and is located on the land next to Axis Mall

I guess the novotel and the swissotel are 2 confirmed hotels under construction.
The status of the westin is a bit ambiguous.
Any news of the Marriot coutyard?

I guess the novotel and the swissotel are 2 confirmed hotels under construction.
The status of the westin is a bit ambiguous.
Any news of the Marriot coutyard?

yes, Swissotel should probably open by March next year at CC2. Westin is U/C. Is Mariott Courtyard the one planned in the Infospace IT park? If yes, then it is not U/C

Photo cc SarafIndian

Around DLF newtown area.

http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/6758/11112009003.jpg

http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/5891/11112009004.jpg

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/322/11112009001i.jpg

http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/3034/11112009002c.jpg

thanks Saraf. btw what the construction is about( the last one with the crane)?

KOLKATA: The West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (Hidco) decided in its board meeting on Wednesday that it would offer two
50-acre plots of land one each to Wipro and Infosys at a price of Rs 1.5 crore an acre.

The offer price is much less than the price range of Rs 1.9-2.1 crore per acre that was earlier fixed for commercial plots in Rajarhat.

Hidco managing director Saurav Das said that they will now send the offer letters to the two IT giants.

"The offer price for each of the 50 acres of land has been approved at Rs 1.5 crore an acre," he said. This was the rate that Hidco had earlier offered to TCS.

Each of the 50 acre plots will be offered at Hatishala mouza under Hidco's Action Area-III project area. The land is just off Rajarhat's main arterial road that leads to the airport. "The land has been fully acquired by us," said a Hidco official.

The offer price, which works out to about Rs 2.5 lakh per cottah, is lower than what had been thought of earlier.

But the initiative to offer 45 acres each to the two IT majors was taken by chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee himself.

This came right after the Vedic Village scam, when the much-touted IT hub project had to be scrapped after it got embroiled in a land acquisition controversy. The quantum of land was further increased to 50 acres each.

In fact, Bhattacharjee had earlier openly scoffed at Hidco chairman and housing minister Gautam Deb for keeping the land price so high. Many IT firms that were earlier offered land in Rajarhat had rejected the offer as it was as high as Rs 2.15 crore an acre.

However, it is to be seen whether the two IT giants will agree to Hidco's latest offer as both companies are reportedly want the price of land confined at Rs 70 to Rs 80 lakh an acre. "We cannot comment before we get details of the decision," said a Wipro spokesperson. Infosys does not have immediate plans to set up base in Rajarhat.

A few weeks ago, Infosys managing director S Gopalakrisnan had told TOI in an exclusive interview that the company was not interested in any revised offer made by the West Bengal government till the global economy improves.

Hidco officials, however, were hopeful that the two companies will agree to the land offer.

"This is the price that was earlier offered to TCS which had taken 40 acres of land. We are hopeful that Infosys and Wipro will agree to the offer," said a Hidco official.

Source:Times of india

^^yes. It is being constructed by Salarpuria and is located on the land next to Axis Mall

Thanks Arijeet...........Is there any picture available for this project??....

BBD Bag will not just get back its colonial era look, but its roads and pavements, too, will be spruced up. Listed among world heritage
sites, every effort will be made to retain Dalhousie's heritage character.

The long-awaited central approval to the proposal to spruce up Dalhousie's roads, boulevards and pavements reached Writers' Buildings 10 days ago along with financial allocation for it under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme.

A team of KMC engineers are gearing up to give a new look to the site. This is the first time that the Centre has approved the beautification of a heritage site under JNNURM.

A pilot project to beautify a small stretch of BBD Bag was taken up two years ago. A 450-metre stretch along Netaji Subhas Road was decked up. The area underwent a change when a new pavement was laid for installation of lamp posts. However, the project could not be taken up due to a funds crunch.

Now that a Rs 21-crore project has been approved under JNNURM, several major roads in Dalhousie will be beautified.

Municipal commissioner Arnab Roy said special care would be taken to ensure that the site is beautified without destroying its heritage character. "It will be our duty to do justice to the world heritage site with the available funds," Roy said.

According to plans, the pavements and medians of the 8.5-km BBD Bag (north), BBD Bag (east), Brabourne Road (east), Hemanta Basu Sarani (south), Esplanade Row (west), Council House Street (west), Netaji Subhas Road (west) and Khudiram Bose Road will undergo a complete change. "Pavements along these roads will be re-laid with specially designed tiles.
Once relaid, the pavements would resemble the ones that existed in the colonial era. Railings along pavements will be fitted with cast iron material," said an architect of the project. This apart, a special feature of the heritage zone beautification project will be the installation of 700 cast-iron lampposts of neo-classical style along medians and pavements.

Source: TOI

yes, Swissotel should probably open by March next year at CC2. Westin is U/C. Is Mariott Courtyard the one planned in the Infospace IT park? If yes, then it is not U/C


Its nice to know that few star rated hotels are u/c or due to open shortly in rajarhat, but what about the strings of hotels on bypass?
the lands were taken up paying huge amounts...but cant see any progress ever since......
and how about the progress of taj gateway and lalit great eastern?

the makeover won't happen in at least our life time..
from the time I first came across SSC back in 2004 then onwards I am hearing news about the revamp of BBD bagh..

the makeover won't happen in at least our life time..
from the time I first came across SSC back in 2004 then onwards I am hearing news about the revamp of BBD bagh..

Lets hope that this time they do it.....as there is hardly any time left for 2011..:bash:

no one would give a heck about BBD Bagh getting revamped in the assembly polls..
its not a vote fetcher for any of the parties..

Its nice to know that few star rated hotels are u/c or due to open shortly in rajarhat, but what about the strings of hotels on bypass?
the lands were taken up paying huge amounts...but cant see any progress ever since......
and how about the progress of taj gateway and lalit great eastern?

Gateway and Lalit are U/C and under renovation respectively. The bypass hotels are victims of slowdown blues. EMAAR stopped construction after some initial activity while DLF has done nothing on their land so far

thanks Saraf. btw what the construction is about( the last one with the crane)?

Sorry Samrat, I am not very good about Rajarhat. This is near DLF just beside the Terminas mall opposite to the Sukhobristi project. Probably part of the Sukhobristi or a completely new project. Arijeet or Sun may have some idea..

Sorry Samrat, I am not very good about Rajarhat. This is near DLF just beside the Terminas mall opposite to the Sukhobristi project. Probably part of the Sukhobristi or a completely new project. Arijeet or Sun may have some idea..

The pictures posted by Saraf are near the "'Sankalpa New Town" project and not the DLF New Town area. Sukhobristi is in AA2. Not sure about this project - looks like a recent development.

Acropolis


http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/4348/acro.jpg (http://img690.imageshack.us/i/acro.jpg/)

http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/6097/acro2.jpg (http://img190.imageshack.us/i/acro2.jpg/)

Hi rupakd can u tell me where this acropolis is located and source.

Hi rupakd can u tell me where this acropolis is located and source.

It is on Rashbehari Connector of EM Bypass.

Source: http://www.merlinprojects.com/navigator.php?Pdetails=37

Acropolis Location

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/9249/locc.jpg (http://img94.imageshack.us/i/locc.jpg/)

This project is a jv between KMDA & Merlin
for making the superstructure the piling work which sunk thrice causing damage to the adjoining road...
the stadium is coming up on the rajdanga club ground whch again had objections regarding ths project...
its due opening is 2011

This project is a jv between KMDA & Merlin
for making the superstructure the piling work which sunk thrice causing damage to the adjoining road...
the stadium is coming up on the rajdanga club ground whch again had objections regarding ths project...
its due opening is 2011

^^when did this happen? this could probably explain the painfully slow progress on this project. On a different note two other residential projects from Merlin are being delayed. Hope there is no issue with the company.

The state government has pulled out of its hat a new agency armed with a tech tool to bypass the Rajarhat land protest hurdle.

With Trinamul Congress in power in all the six panchayats — Rajarhat I, Rajarhat II, Patharghata, Mahishbathan, Chandpur and Jyangra-Hatiara — in Rajarhat, the sanction for thousands of building plans is stuck in the township that Hidco started developing in the early 1990s.

“We have created a new agency, Newtown Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA), which will have the power to process the applications online and sanction building plans. We have done this to fast-track the development of the township,” said Goutam Deb, the housing minister and chairman of Hidco.

Hidco can only give land and develop infrastructure while the local panchayats have the right to sanction building plans. “Following the sudden political change in the area and the land protests after the Vedic Village controversy, the panchayats are not sanctioning any building plan,” said a senior official.

According to Hidco sources, over 3,500 building plans are held up with the panchayats. “The number will go up to a few lakhs in the next five years as the Trinamul-led panchayats have vowed not to sanction any building plan,” said the official.

In a desperate bid to bypass the building block, Hidco — in association with Jadavpur University — has developed an online system to sanction building plans, to be launched on Saturday.

A special act — Newtown Kolkata Development Authority Act, 2007 — has been used to set up the development authority armed with the teeth to sanction building plans.

Local Trinamul leaders have already decided to oppose the online system.

“Instead of addressing the farmers’ woes, the government is trying to create another point of conflict,” said Trinamul leader Purnendu Basu, who is heading the land protests in Rajarhat.

According to him, party leaders have instructed the panchayat members to scrutinise each building plan before giving a seal of approval.

“If the land belongs to unwilling farmers we won’t allow it to be taken away forcibly. We are preparing a list of plots forcibly grabbed by Hidco. This will take some time and we won’t sanction new plans unless the list is ready,” said Prabir Kar, the president of the Rajarhat (Grameen) unit of Trinamul.

Source: The Telegraph

The same old TMC and the same old Crap....illegal land aquisition.....can't they think of developement rather than some cheap votes??????:bash:
I wonder if this idea of Hidco will see the lights for how many days?
Lets hope for the best!!!!!!!!

Its really extremely unfortunate...i fear if our very own MAMATA comes into power, don't know whats going to happen to these so many developmental work and the the process of industrilisation that Budhdha has initiated. I am not in favour of any political party but what i felt is that what our CM was trying to do is actually going to be benifical in the long run for WB. I really pray that development projects should not be hampered with the outcome of election.:ohno:

Plan ready for Calcutta Riverside project


Riverbank Developers, which is developing a 262-acre integrated township project along the Hooghly river in Kolkata in joint venture with Bata India Ltd, has prepared a detailed plan to upgrade social infrastructure in the area.
CEPT University of Ahmedabad, an urban planning institute, has prepared a comprehensive development plan to upgrade the overall infrastructure for Mahestala area.
The move is in response to the West Bengal government's doubts about the developmental works promised by Riverbank, which is investing an estimated Rs 3,000 crore on constructing the Calcutta Riverside township project.

source: Projectsmonitor