Kolkata Project Update II - project news from Kolkata

[sidney_jec]

Source: TOI Epaper

TECH BOOM
IT major to invest Rs 250 cr in state Ajanta Chakraborty | TNN


Kolkata: Brand Buddha is shining again. Two days after being promised a Rs 17,000-crore investment from SAIL, the CM is all set to sign an agreement with internationally acclaimed IT major Rolta. Bhattacharjee will meet a team
from the Mumbai-based group on Friday to clinch the Rs 250-crore deal.
A source at Writers’ Buildings said Rolta India Limited will set up an IT park at Nonadanga in east Kolkata. The investment will be made in a phased manner.
IT minister Debesh Das said: “We are happy to have finally got Rolta to invest in the state. The fact that Kolkata is their first venture outside Mumbai means a lot to us.”
The government has long been trying to get Rolta — one of the country’s leading IT companies specialising in GeoSpatial Information Systems (GIS), Engineering Design Automation (EDA) and eSolutions (eS) — to invest here. Initially, the government had decided to accommodate Rolta in Salt Lake’s Sector V. But now, Rolta will be allotted land at Nonadanga.
The project will have facilities to deliver GIS services, ED solutions and software development services worldwide. Sources said the facility is part of Rolta’s expansion plan.

[sidney_jec]

Source : TOI EPaper

[Suncity]

Forum Projects website

http://www.forumprojects.in/

Technopolis 2

[Jai]

That's a damn fine looking project

Good one Sun

[Suncity]

Genexx Valley - one of Kolkata's largest residential projects
http://www.genexxvalley.com/

photo copyright Prathap

[SarafIndian]

Originally Posted by arijeetb

Is there a flyover being constructed here ? I read a report of a new link road starting here for faster access to the airport without having to go thru rajarhat.

Just look at this

Nabadiganta Industrial Township Authority (NDITA) was created after segregating from Bidhannagar Municipality with a view to improve the infrastructure and civic amenities of this area and bring them in tune with the expectations of the domestic and multinational IT companies.

All the roads running through the sector have already been renovated. The drainage system has been cleaned up and as a result there was no water logging in Sector V even during the heavy showers this year.

We have already entrusted the beautification work to reputed firm under Private Public Partnership (PPP) model and the beautification work is now going on in full swing.

The water supply system and sewerage system will also be upgraded through PPP. A reputed company called JUSCO has been selected for undertaking this work, expected to begin shortly.

About 9.5 lakh sq ft built-up area for office space is now under construction, which will be completed within the next two years. In addition to this, some small plots measuring between 10-40 cottahs each are likely to be allotted by the UD department to the prospective entrepreneurs within six months for creating office space.

Many foreign companies are coming up mostly in the IT sector in the Industrial Township area. Multinational companies like IBM, Skytech, Cognizant Technology Solutions have already set up their units here. GE Capital, Oracle and even Microsoft have shown interest for setting up their units in Sector V.

One flyover and two RCC concrete bridges will come up soon to tackle the traffic congestion, especially at JK Saha Bridge near WIPRO crossing. The work of the RCC concrete bridges will start in September and the work for construction of flyover will start in the month of October this year. Tender formalities are being completed.

All the nine key roads in Sector V have already been renovated except a small proportion of 300-meter stretch in front of JDS Technologies. This portion is also under renovation. Work order has also been issued for repairs of the patches and potholes on some other roads. Scheme for laying pipelines departmentally has been withdrawn since water supply scheme will now be executed by our private partner under PPP model.

E-Waste management problem has not yet assumed alarming proportion, but plans have already been drawn up in collaboration with BCCI for tackling this problem. A seminar was organized for e-waste management in 2006, where MIC’s Environment department, secretaries of the department and some experts in e-waste management participated.

A presentation was made on e-waste management in the US and other developed countries of the world. A few definite guidelines for e-waste management in Sector V emerged in course of the discussion.

Parking zones for Sector V have already been identified and these will be manned by our private partners that are being selected through a transparent process.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...ow/2313116.cms

[sidney_jec]

Source: TOI Epaper

Traffic chaos at Dunlop on new bridge approach
Suman Chakraborti | TNN
Kolkata: The worst fears have come true. Ever since the Second Vivekananda Bridge has been thrown open to vehicular traffic, there has been severe traffic congestion 0at the Dunlop junction of BT Road.
Officials of the Second Vivekananda Bridge Tollway Company (SVBTC) had earlier warned that there would be severe traffic chaos if the Dunlop traffic interchange project was not implemented. This is because vehicles driving down the bridge would merge with traffic on BT Road. This is exactly what has happened, resulting in the Dunlop 0junction getting choked everyday, particularly during rush hour in the mornings and evenings.
“This was bound to happen. Unless the government first executes the Dunlop traffic interchange project, which involves a flyover connecting the Dunlop junction with the new bridge, traffic chaos would continue to dog that stretch,” said an SVBTC official. They claimed that there was no immediate solution to the problem as the flyover would take at least a year to come up.
Although the interchange project was conceptualised four years ago, PWD did not take any initiative to start work on it. The project provides for a flyover with a ramp connecting the bridge for a smooth vehicular dispersal.
PWD officials said they will start executing the Dunlop traffic interchange project. “The state-run Mackintosh Burn will construct the flyover at the place,” said an official. There is also a need to set up a ramp on GT Road on the Howrah side to prevent traffic bottleneck.

[jdutta2002]

BS Reporter / Kharagpur September 17, 2007



Delays in land allotment is holding back the plans of Infosys to set up an IT park in Kolkata.

N R Narayana Murthy, non-executive chairman, Infosys, on the sidelines of the 53rd annual convocation of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, said it was up to the West Bengal government to start the project.

"The ball is in the West Bengal government's court now. Once they identify the land , the project would come up," he told reporters.

"West Bengal is an important place for us," he added. He refused to make any further comments on the issue.

Infosys had sought 100 acre for setting up a software development facility in the state. The facility is expected to create around 5,000 jobs in the IT and BPO industry.

According to the earlier plan, Infosys was supposed to get 100 acre at a proposed 850-acre IT facility opposite Vedic Village, a real estate project near Salt Lake area.

[jdutta2002]

Murthy hopes to get land in Kolkata soon
16 Sep, 2007, 0358 hrs IST, TNN

KOLKATA: Infosys Technologies chief mentor N R Narayana Murthy on Saturday said the company is still hopeful that the West Bengal government will shortly identify land for its proposed Kolkata software campus.

"The ball is in the West Bengal government's court to locate suitable land. Kolkata is a great place and we don't want to shelve our plans here," said Mr Murthy.

Mr Murthy, however, did not elaborate further, saying "I am not up-to-date with the company's business affairs." He was talking to reporters on the sidelines of the 53rd convocation of IIT-KGP.

Incidentally, IIT-KGP awarded the title of Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) to Mr Murthy.

Infosys plans to set up a software campus over 100 acres which is slated to generate at least 5,000 IT/ITeS jobs.

[sidney_jec]

Source: ibnlive.com

KMC to lease 5 acres of land, builders queue up
Monday September 17, 09:00 PM
Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation wants to lease five acres of the city's prime property.

Last year, DLF-Hilton paid the municipality Rs 32 crore an acre and Emmar MGF paid Rs 35 crore. This year, analysts see more than 50 per cent appreciation. That's because it's strategically located. Besides, the area is dotted with hotels and is a commercial district.

"There won't be any more residential allotment on the bypass. So, any land bank, which comes for bid, would be for commercial usage. Which I suppose is very nice because you know you have created that stretch and you should not waste it doing residential,” said Regional Director, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, Abhijeet Das.

Besides, this commercial district offers, a 450-metre frontage with no height restriction. That's why companies like DLF, Unitech, ITC Emmar MGF and Leela are expected to bid.

Sources say that the minimum bid would range between Rs 350 and 450 crore. The bids opened on September 12 and will close on October 5.

Connecting the airport in the north and the metro railway in the south, the EM Bypass has become one of the hottest properties in Kolkata. But who will bid for the five-acre plot in Kolkata, we would have to wait and watch.

[sidney_jec]

Source: TheStatesman.net

Heritage hub on the river
Statesman News Service
Kolkata, Sept. 17: The Army and the state government have grand plans to set up a world class heritage site and tourist spot at both east and west ends of Prinsep Ghat. The proposal, which has come from Army authorities, include setting up of an amphitheatre, a floating theatre jetty, a mobile military-railway museum and even a bird sanctuary and a waterbody.
The state transport secretary, Mr Sumantra Chowdhury, today held a meeting with Army officials, railways and officials of Hooghly River Bridge Commissioners and environmentalists to discuss the proposal. According to the proposal put forward by the Army, an amphitheatre would be erected at the Kolkata end of Vidyasagar Setu by HRBC. Alternatively, the site may be used as a band stand. The land on which the project will come up belongs to the defence ministry. There are proposals for the setting up of a floating theatre at the Man of War jetty. A 30 foot high stage would be erected over a barge while the audience would be sitting at the banks. Both the stage and the amphitheatres would only be used for cultural functions and there would be a bar on social and political ones. The forest department would set up a bird sanctuary as well.
There are also proposals for setting up a mobile Army and railway museum where arms and ammunition would be put on show. A museum on Netaji is also on the anvil where the inmates of Cellular Jail in Andamans would also find a special mention. Tanks from Bangladesh war may also find a place. The chief minister, himself, has insisted that the site should be named after Sir James Prinsep.
According to a state government official present in the meeting, the Army has proposed that the state government should put in around Rs five crore but that is still under consideration of the finance department.

[Suncity]

Anyone heard about this (proposed) project?

From the Meinhardt website

Render



Bengal NRI Complex

http://www.meinhardt.com.au/projectdetail.php?pid=3934

Location: Kolkata
Country: India
Client: Bengal NRI Complex Limited
Architect: ACTA, Singapore

The Bengal NRI Complex, a 67 acre township development with a total built up area of 7.6 lakh Sq ft, is a fine blend of luxury with safety and security, supported by the state of the art building management system. This first of its kind ambitious development comprise of 150 independent residential bungalows, a recreational building, 2 towers of G+ 41 storeys, 5 towers of G+ 35 storey, and 1 level of basement car park each. The independent bungalows comprise of 3 bedroom apartments of 2,145 Sqft to hi-tech 5 bedroom duplex of 6,825 sqft built-up-area.

Meinhardt is providing Infrastructure Master-planning and Detailed Engineering design services for C&S and MEP.

The only thing that I came up with in google search is from WBIDC website:

http://www.wbidc.com/about_wb/social_infrastructure.htm

The Bengal NRI Complex, Prachi, is being built on the eastern fringe of the EM Bypass

[Suncity]

Shriram partners Int funds for Rs 5,000 cr township

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...ow/2381049.cms

Shriram Properties Ltd has tied up with funds of Walton Street Capital and Starwood Capital Group to develop a Rs 5,000 crore township on Hindustan Motors Uttarpara property.

HM signed an MoU with Shriram Properties for real estate development on 314 acre excess land at Uttarpara in Hooghly district, about 12 km from Kolkata.

A Shriram Properties statement said the development would encompass 20 million square feet of residential, retail, office and civic space.

HM had earlier said that it would hand over 314 acre in Uttarpara over the next two years to Bengal Shriram High Tech City Ltd, a joint venture with Shriram Properties Ltd of Bangalore with the auto company.

HM would hold a minority stake in the venture.

[wcgokul]

awesome......Billion dollar+ project........

[Civitas]

Real picture of West Bengal communists ... courtesy Rabin-da

Alas!! What can Budhhadeb do !! Yesterday he confessed that contribution of Indian communists in Oxford dictionary is the word 'Gherao'. I really feel sorry about him.

These monsters are created by them and whole state is suffering.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/107091...ry_8326964.asp

Leader scuttles car park ban

The underground parking lot and the pedestrian plaza on Lindsay Street, unveiled five months ago to ease congestion, have been reduced to a farce — thanks to the intervention by a CPM leader on behalf of attendants manning parking lots near New Market.

.......
.......

And they are not just dropping a name. CPM strongman Rabin Deb told Metro: “Yes, I have spoken to mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya and municipal commissioner Alapan Bandyopadhyay and told them not to impose restrictions on roadside parking in the New Market area till the Puja. As people prefer to park on the road (rather than underground), let them (the parking attendants) earn some money now.”

[SarafIndian]

One of the world's premier real estate private equity funds, Starwood Capital, is planning to start a 200-room luxury hotel in the city at a cost of about Rs 250 crore. Starwood has assets under management of over $6 billion.

"We will tie up with a local partner for the five-star property in central Kolkata. While the local partner will provide land, the majority of the investment will be made by us," Starwood Capital India Advisors managing director Balaji Rao said. "Work on the hotel project is likely to start this year," he added.

However, Rao refused to disclose the name of the partner saying doing so would be premature. He also ruled out any immediate possibility of taking over an existing hotel property in Kolkata.

Starwood owns luxury hotel brands like Crillon and Baccarat in Europe, the Caribbean Islands and US.

Beside hotels, Starwood's realty investments include residential and commercial land development, office, retail, mixed-use, industrial, health clubs and golf courses.

Starwood, on behalf of its affiliated funds, has led the formation of several market leading companies, which include Groupe Taittinger and Societe du Louvre, Europe's second largest hotel network and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.

Kolkata has recently been seeing a lot of interest from hotel majors, with DLF proposing to pump in Rs 600 crore on setting up a hospitality project here. Emaar Properties too is expected to start construction on its proposed hotel in the city shortly.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/B...ow/2381551.cms

[SarafIndian]

HCL Infosystem Ltd will develop a system integration centre here in the next 8-12 months.

'We will develop a system integration centre here. We would be able to deliver projects in West Bengal and also outside the state. The project would tentatively be completed within next 8-12 months,' HCL Infosystem Ltd chairman and CEO Ajai Chowdhry told reporters on the sidelines of an IT seminar, ICT East 2007, organised by Confederation of Indian Industry here Tuesday.


He said 1.5 acres of land has been bought at Rs.10.2 million per acre on the southern fringe of the city.


'We will develop a training centre, regional data centre and a repairing centre. It would be the second system integration centre of HCL in India,' said Chowdhry.


HCL Infosystem already has one system integration centre in Chandigarh. The company is planning to develop five such centres across the country in the near future, he added.


HCL's computer hardware manufacturing plants include four facilities - two centres at Puducherry and one each at Chennai and Uttarakhand.


'We have already identified nine areas like telecom, airport, power, e-governance, banking and finance, etc. on which this system integration centre can work on,' he said.


'We are also going to launch five more integrated systems such as media and entertainment, retail, railway, airports and health from this year,' he added.


'We will hire about 1,000 people locally at the Kolkata centre,' said Chowdhry.

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/i...tre_in_Kolkata

[sidney_jec]

source: Statesman website

IBS to set up new residential campus
Statesman News Service
KOLKATA, Sept 18: The ICFAI Business School (IBS) will be opening a new residential campus in the city in two years time, the director of IBS, Prof Santanu Ray, announced today.
The authorities of the business school said they were presently looking for suitable sites where the campus can be built. “We have planned to come up with a residential campus for which we require about 25-30 acres of land. We are discussing the matter with the state chief minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and we have also committed a Rs 100 crore investment in West Bengal,” said Prof Ray.
He added that the new campus will be a residential one, in order to provide greater opportunities to students to interact with the faculty. “Management is not learned in a day. One has to live, eat and sleep management to become an efficient management professional.” The new campus, however, will not be in Salt Lake like the already existing one. “We are checking out plots at EM Bypass, Kona Expressway and Diamond Harbour and will soon zero down one of these. Once the land is chosen, the campus will come up in a couple of years,” added Prof Ray.
IBS is also trying to get the status of a deemed university for which it is awaiting a no-objection certificate from the West Bengal government. The director today also announced the beginning of the admission of students for the 2008 session of the MBA programme. Students can avail the online admit cards from 20 November at (www.ibsindia.org/ibsat). Interested students will have to sit for the IBSAT test on 16 December.
Prof Arup Choudhuri, associate dean and academic coordinator, finance faculty, said: “The admission procedure consists of two levels. Students will have to make a five-minute micro presentation followed by a two-minute question-answer round. They are then required to clear a domain interview with the director and some faculty members.”
He added, each campus has its own threshold of marking students. The students are asked to give their preferences for six campuses. If they successfully clear the set threshold, they are given admission in their preferred campus.

[Ajaypp]

Originally Posted by Suncity

Anyone heard about this (proposed) project?

From the Meinhardt website

Render



Bengal NRI Complex

http://www.meinhardt.com.au/projectdetail.php?pid=3934



The only thing that I came up with in google search is from WBIDC website:

http://www.wbidc.com/about_wb/social_infrastructure.htm

Nice project there, Sun. However, 760,000 sft sounds way too small for a project this size. Should be closer to 7.6 million given the scale and the height of the highrises. Impressive!

[sidney_jec]

Dont know whether these have been posted before..

Calcutta Riverside Masterplan



Renders

Plaza near riverside


Aprtments






For more renders visit

http://www.calcuttariverside.com/