New Town Kolkata

[avishar]

It really rankles when funds are there,the intent to do something and the state has to again mess it up.This IIT campus would be important to attract more R&D centres of companies.
They should fast tract land allotment or allot them new land.Mr Buddhadeb will go around bending over backwards to get Infosys into the state but this is as prestigious and important a project!!Silly babus!

@debalahiri i agree with you,that flyover looks more like trafffic hump!

[SarafIndian]

Nice photos

Originally Posted by footballbengali

Source: Daylife
http://www.daylife.com/search/photos/1/grid?q=kolkata

[SarafIndian]

www.daylife.com

[Suncity]

Novotel?

photo copyright amitsrkr

[studdmanster]

yup!!!

[avishar]

Novotel seems to be following this earlier render.If it stays true to this design this will be one of the best looking hotels in India

[Suncity]

After violent agitations by activists based on unverified claims of "400" acres of supposed disputed land in Singur, half truths are now being planted through the media about New Town. This time it is 25,000 acres in New Town and 2.5 lakh families.

The proposed New Town is not more than 40 sq kms. That is less than 10,000 acres of land. And anyway that is the proposed area.

The population of Rajarhat Gopalpur area as per 2001 census was about 270,000. So the number of affected families cannot be 250000 (which means more than 1 million people!).

The problem is when a lie is repeated many times, people will start thinking it is the truth.

Mamata Banerjee alleges land scam

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...ow/7050584.cms

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee’s threat to launch an agitation on the lines of Singur and Nandigram against what she claimed was a land scam at Rajarhat, a township near Kolkata, has left the state government jittery.

Three weeks ago, Banerjee had said, “Land scams have taken place in a big way at Rajarhat where CPM-led Left Front government had forcibly acquired acres after acres by torturing farmers. It is time now that I launch agitation here the way I spearheaded movements at Singur, Nandigram and Suchpur to uphold farmers’ rights,” during a rally of party workers and farmers at Rajarhat. “Land scams will be probed case by case if Trinamool Congress comes to power in the next assembly polls in the state. This (Left Front) government should be nailed for speculating on land.”

Claiming that 25,000 acres had been forcibly acquired at Rajarhat for the new town project by torturing farmers, she said her party had received complaints from 2.5 lakh families, some of whom had not yet received compensation.

[gentem]

Wasteland awaits IT login
OUR BUREAU

Spot the plot: land without infrastructure for Infy and Wipro

Farmland as far as the eye can see beyond the action area

Piles of sand but no sign of construction activity

A dirt road runs through the last stretch of the allotted acres
Pictures by Bishwarup Dutta

Bengal has again blurred the line between a promise and a pipe dream, banking on land deals with IT behemoths Wipro and Infosys to transform gloom town Rajarhat into a boom town without bothering about basic infrastructure.

“A plot of land is not all that you need to set up a large IT project. You need infrastructure first,” a senior industry official said, echoing all-round scepticism about housing minister and Hidco chairman Gautam Deb’s claim that all is well in Rajarhat-New Town.

Metro visited the Infosys acres in Action Area II after Deb’s news conference announcing the deal, only to find the area still resembling a wasteland.

The 100-odd acres, located around 10km from Technopolis, have no infrastructure worth the name for Infosys, Wipro and Tata Consultancy Services to even contemplate starting their proposed projects in the near future.

Azim Premji’s Wipro had set an 18-month deadline for work to start on its second campus, but a year has passed without a brick being laid. Officials of the IT department admitted that the fault lay with the government, which inked the land deals but failed to back them up with infrastructure.

“Both Infosys and Wipro are eager to start operating from the state as soon as possible. We need to work on a war footing if we are to get the requisite infrastructure ready for them,” said an official.

Although the Bengal government insists that Infosys has “urgently asked for land”, confusing signals emerged from the company’s Bangalore headquarters. Chief executive officer S. Gopalakrishnan said the company wanted to start work in six months, but officials who did not wish to be named insisted that the deal signed last month was “just to keep an option open for the future”.

Even if the IT biggies fast-track their proposed projects, a plethora of infrastructure problems await them. The most obvious drawback is power, or the lack of it.

A Hidco official blamed “unwarranted resistance” from land owners in Chhapna Mouza of Patharghata panchayat — Metro has reported several instances of villagers chasing away workers, trying to install three high-tension electricity poles, to protest the low land price — for the delay in providing power to action areas II and III.

“Unless we manage to end the impasse, no project can start in action areas II and III,” said a Hidco official.

The operations head of a top IT company with an office in Sector V said the government should have resolved such intrinsic issues before seeking investment in Rajarhat-New Town.

“Power and telecom connectivity are something that IT companies cannot do without from construction to operation,” he said.

Action areas II and III also lack sewers and water pipelines because 30 families living in the nearby Baliguri Mouza have been preventing Hidco from undertaking any work. Their grouse is that the government acquired land from them at nominal prices years ago and is now allotting these plots to IT companies for “huge amounts of money”.

With Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamul Congress fanning the flames, chances of a breakthrough before the Assembly elections appear remote.

The only development in the area since Wipro picked up a 50-acre parcel of land last December is the construction of a motorable road leading to the IT plots.

The road, supposed to be a six-lane expressway, now has four lanes till the 100-acre Uniworld housing project by Unitech. It is a two-lane road thereafter that ends near the Wipro plot.

From when do you think Infosys and Wipro can start operating in New Town? Tell ttmetro@abpmail.com

proximity to airport is a good infrastructure indeed..

[Suncity]

X-posting from my Kolkata project post

The Telegraph Infosys coverage; Looks like the Telegraph is pissed off about its sources constantly giving it bad quality information.




The Telegraph, June 5, 2010 -

Infosys has no plans to come to Bengal “at least in the next six years”, an official said today, preparing for a change of guard in the state and factoring in the possibility of political instability.

“We have no plans to go there at least in the next six years. We are not saying it officially but that’s the position,” the Infosys official said on the condition of anonymity.

Express Buzz, November 23, 2010.

IT major Infosys Technologies Tuesday signed an agreement with the West Bengal government for setting up a campus on a 50-acre plot at Rajarhat in the city's north eastern fringes that is expected to provide employment to 15,000-20,000 people.


The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the IT giant and the state's Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) for the site, said state Housing Minister Gautam Deb.

The Telegraph, November 24, 2010

"Sources in Infosys told The Telegraph that the company was yet to firm up any project plan for the plot, which was acquired “just to keep an option open for future expansions”."

Economic Times, December 6, 2010:

IT major Infosys will begin construction of its first facility in West Bengal at New Town Rajarhat adjacent to the metropolis within six months and does not foresee any problem from opposition political parties opposed to land acquisition .

"We are for creating employment opportunity in the state as well as in the region. We are not in any politics," CEO and MD Kris Gopalakrishnan said here today.

"The Infosys facility will come on over 50 acre it received from the West Bengal government to create employment opportunity for nearly 20,000 people," he said.

The Telegraph, December 7, 2010

Bengal has again blurred the line between a promise and a pipe dream, banking on land deals with IT behemoths Wipro and Infosys to transform gloom town Rajarhat into a boom town without bothering about basic infrastructure.

“A plot of land is not all that you need to set up a large IT project. You need infrastructure first,” a senior industry official said, echoing all-round scepticism about housing minister and Hidco chairman Gautam Deb’s claim that all is well in Rajarhat-New Town.

Officials who did not wish to be named insisted that the deal signed last month was “just to keep an option open for the future”.

[SamitB]

Think, TT is not happy about the hope of development in Rajarhat.

[Suncity]

Originally Posted by SamitB

Think, TT is not happy about the hope of development in Rajarhat.

Nowadays it is best to assume that the media is a bad as the politicians.

Remember the Telegraph's photo of Kolkata's new Terminal?

In August, the Telegraph published this photo. Now what would a person think after seeing this photo? That new Kolkata terminal was still a big hole in the ground. Was it the full truth?



A few days later in the same month, ArijeetB published this photo

[SamitB]

See the headline of the news.
Wasteland awaits IT login

This is shameful journalism.
Even saltlake/kalyani were wasteland someday

[niljee]

Originally Posted by SamitB

See the headline of the news.
Wasteland awaits IT login

This is shameful journalism.
Even saltlake/kalyani were wasteland someday

I guess the journalist is not aware of the state of affairs before some of the big IT parks came up in India. He can still go and check some of the upcoming parks in places like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Gurgaon etc.

[studdmanster]

these news agencies knows everything, but they print these types of news for mainly two reasons:
> for increasing sales on weekdays (TT has suhel seth for good sunday sales!)
> try to outdo their competitors!!(here, its TOI)
> also the party whom they favor, they try to censor good parts of the news, afterall its the editor who gives the final green signal!!

compared to other Indian cities, in Kolkata newsagencies are worst, both print and media!

[SamitB]

Originally Posted by niljee

I guess the journalist is not aware of the state of affairs before some of the big IT parks came up in India. He can still go and check some of the upcoming parks in places like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Gurgaon etc.

How they will know the status in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Gurgaon,Chennai etc?
Don't think they cover any news except political tamasha,bandhs,michhils,political narod narod in west bengal?
They have so much stupid things to cover

[avishar]

Rishi Tech Tower

[Suncity]

Today's tears about Infosys.

Telegraph and ABP are sister publications:

Today's edition of TT says:

The potholes on the way to our tech dream

http://www.telegraphindia.com/110120...y_13272950.jsp

Infosys needs: A wide road up to its 50-acre plot from the main arterial road. Besides connectivity, the road is essential for any heavy construction.

Problem: The road to the IT hub — where Infosys and Wipro are to set up shop — was supposed to be a six-lane expressway. It is now four-lane till the 100-acre Uniworld housing project and two-lane up to the Wipro plot 2km beyond.

There is no road at all leading to the Infosys plot.

Hidco claim: “We will ensure all the infrastructure for the Infosys premises,” said an official.

Trinamul stand: Supporters of the party have so far prevented Deb-led Hidco from taking possession of the land on which the road has to be laid. “Many of those who owned the land have not accepted their compensation. They will resist any construction,” said Asok Naskar, the chief of the Patharghata gram panchayat.

Time frame: Hidco officials claim the work on the road will start within a fortnight. But none of the officials can say when they expect to finish the job.

Contractors who have worked at New Town earlier say a six-lane road till the Infosys plot will take over six months to build even without any land dispute.

Infosys needs: Uninterrupted power

Problem: Landowners in Chhapna mouza under Patharghata panchayat have refused to let Hidco install the high-tension poles essential to transmit power to Action Areas II and III.

Hidco is said to have made 16 attempts to install the towers but in vain.

Hidco claim: “We are working 24x7. We will be able to provide the power required for Infosys,” said a senior official.

Trinamul stand: “The landowners are adamant. We have tried to convince them but failed. They want more money,” said panchayat pradhan Naskar.

Time frame: The impasse is almost two years old now. With Mamata Banerjee threatening a Singur-style agitation in Rajarhat, it is anybody’s guess how much longer it will continue.

A Hidco official said: “Installing the poles will require a big crackdown by the police and the district administration. The government will not take that risk months before the elections.”


Infosys needs: Running water and sewer lines

Problem: Thirty households at Baliguri village, which own about 20 acres (1,200 cottahs), have prevented work over the past year. The families, from whom the land was acquired at Rs 13,500 a cottah in 2003, are now demanding Rs 3 lakh a cottah.

Hidco claim: “The IT sector is a priority. Hidco will do everything within its limits,” said the official.

Trinamul stand: “For two years we have resisted Hidco whenever it has tried to take possession of our land. They cannot take land for a few thousand rupees from poor farmers and sell it for crores. We won’t allow them to strike even a single nail into the land unless the poor get what they are demanding,” said Trinamul’s Naskar.

Time frame: Hidco has failed to start work in seven years. Pipes and construction material are lying in a heap in the area for over a year now.

Meanwhile the ABP reports on the same day:

* Road work going on. One kilometer stretch pending. Work is going on that stretch and a metalled road should be ready by Feb 2011 as per Hidco claims.

* Electrical substation ready. Work to give connections will be done by January 2011 as per Hidco.

* Water supply - Hidco claims it will need two months to arrange for it. ABP noted pipes and digging along the road stretch

* Drainage canal work going on along the stretch

* Housing Minister is hoping that work will be done in six months time

ABP's tone doesn't seem to be as negative or sarcastic.

[niljee]

Originally Posted by Suncity

Today's tears about Infosys.

Telegraph and ABP are sister publications:

I noticed the same thing and was about to post a similar note. This is indeed funny!

[arijeetb]

Originally Posted by Suncity

Today's tears about Infosys.

Telegraph and ABP are sister publications:

Today's edition of TT says:

The potholes on the way to our tech dream

http://www.telegraphindia.com/110120...y_13272950.jsp





Meanwhile the ABP reports on the same day:

* Road work going on. One kilometer stretch pending. Work is going on that stretch and a metalled road should be ready by Feb 2011 as per Hidco claims.

* Electrical substation ready. Work to give connections will be done by January 2011 as per Hidco.

* Water supply - Hidco claims it will need two months to arrange for it. ABP noted pipes and digging along the road stretch

* Drainage canal work going on along the stretch

* Housing Minister is hoping that work will be done in six months time

ABP's tone doesn't seem to be as negative or sarcastic.

We are all gearing up for the maha bandh like agitation tomorrow. I am thinking of paying a visit around the HIDCO office and watch the fun.

[avishar]

@ Suncity

I agree that reports like this are pessimistic in nature like that of TT but i thinks its needs to be reported.HIDCO is no angel too when it comes to doing what it does and you can be sure most of the babus have made a lot of money from selling land in rajarhat.

I mean look at action area 2.They apparently paid 13,500 per cottah for land to farmers.

Uniword city itself is over 100 acres thats around 6,000 cottahs.If that entire area was populated by villages, they paid 6000*13,500=8 crore for the land.

They usually sell for 1.5 crore/acre so thats 150 crores from just Uniwold land.They paid peanuts for it.Not mention other huge projects like SP Infocity,Wipro,Infosys,ELita Garden Vista,DLF housing,SP residential housing who all are in the same area.

And look at the infrastructure till date created.Practically zilch.They should have finished with infrastructure ages ago considering they must have netted around 500 crores just from selling land.

There should be uniform rate at which landowners should be compensated as a % of the price at which the land will finally be sold taking into consideration all expense for creating infrastructure.

I agree Mamato is escalating this problem by her shouting and hounding and spread false reports but none can blame HIDCO for poor planning.

On top of that we have our stupid newspapers who can never get their facts right.Newspapers are meant to show whats the ground reality of things for the enlightenment of the general public and if they do so there is nothing wrong.But i wish they would all be consistent and get their facts right.

There is not much difference between what ABP has reported and what TT has said.

For example TT has said 2 lane till wipro which is 2km beyond Uniword.ABP says of which 1 km is pending.We have no idea whether this 1 km already done is six lane or 2 lane.

And 3 months to make 1 km of lane which joy of joys is "metalled" is outrageous.

To tell you the truth,as much as i love more development in rajarhat,frankly that place hides more than what meets the eye.