Kolkata Project Update II - project news from Kolkata

[arijeetb]

http://www.telegraphindia.com/107112...ry_8593300.asp
Add-ons boon at airport
- Extra check-in counters, X-ray machines and trolleys spell comfort for fliers

A string of steps promises to end the chaos and congestion at Calcutta airport’s domestic terminal.

The traffic-handling capacity of the terminal has gone up recently, with the addition of check-in counters, X-ray machines, over 1,000 new trolleys and an entrance. According to a survey by the Airports Authority of India, the acquisitions have increased the terminal’s traffic-handling capacity by nearly 40 per cent.

“Several other measures will be taken by early next year, improving things further,” said airport director V.K. Monga.

The canopy work is expected to be complete early next year. It spans 2,650 sq metres — from one end of the terminal to the other — and will expand the lounge area.

By January, the conveyor belts will have X-rays built into them to scan the registered baggage of passengers. “The X-ray machines being used now will not be needed then. We can remove them and use the space to set up more check-in counters,” added Monga. After the addition of 18 check-in counters over the past two months, the number of counters now stands at 46.

“The processing, check-in and security check is taking less time. This reduces flight operation time,” said the airport director. Extension of the secondary runway by 440 metres and a fifth taxiing bay between the primary and secondary runways will also speed up flight operation.

The secondary runway, once it is extended, will have Category I Instrumental Landing System (ILS). Some ILS components have arrived at the airport. The installation will start this year.

The check-in counters are functioning full-strength round the clock after deployment of more Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel. The counters used to run full strength from 5am to 9pm. Skeletal staff used to man the counters at night. “The additional hands have been of great help,” said a CISF officer.

Trolleys are the latest addition to the airport infrastructure. There were 1,400 trolleys in the terminal but a large number of them were not usable. The 1,100 trolleys recently acquired have brakes. Eight hundred more trolleys will be purchased by January.

The domestic terminal handles about 10,000 passengers every day. During peak hours, about 1,100 passengers board flights per hour. The number of domestic flights per week has gone up to 676 from 616 in summer.

If the rate of increase in flights persists, said airport officials, the infrastructure could again feel the strain in a couple of years.

“The modernisation project must be completed by the target date of January 2010. Otherwise, there will be major problems with flight operations,” predicted a senior airport official.

The modernisation plan, of about Rs 2,000 crore, envisages two new terminals at the airport — an integrated large one for domestic and international flights and relatively smaller one for international flights. The first terminal will have the capacity to handle 1.6 crore passengers per year. The second terminal will be able to handle 40 lakh passengers.

[Suncity]

City Centre II Mall, New Town

http://www.ambujarealty.com/projects...yCentreNewTown

photo cc rights suncity

[sidney_jec]

B for BOOST...
nah..
its B for BULLSHIT..
better B for BASTARDS
Whenever I come across a news abt revamp of BBD Bagh I become emotional (meri aankh me khushi ke aansu aa jaate hain :X )
(bloody a!@#$%^s)
It gives me a sense that India is still united..
Dont believe me..look at this

Mumbai - Marine Drive
Delhi - CP &
Kolkata - BBD Bagh..


100's of project announcements and none even come out of the boardroom

Source: TelegraphIndia.com

Boost for city brand
- Offer from UK to share expertise

OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

BBD Bag, or Dalhousie Square, which a team of urban regeneration experts from the UK wants to help rejuvenate. A Telegraph picture
How to bring fun and public activity back to the heart of the city? How to keep iconic and loved structures intact, link places to monuments and engage the community? How to create a Brand Calcutta?
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[sidney_jec]

Howrah revamp on anvil
http://www.telegraphindia.com/107112...ry_8595128.asp

Revamp plan for Howrah

OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

A monument in Howrah. Calcutta’s twin town is set for revitalisation. A Telegraph picture
Parts of Howrah are set to benefit from a “first-of-its-kind” integrated inner-city regeneration programme, with the aid of a UK-based multi-disciplinary consultancy firm.

A 260-sq-km zone on the west bank, spanning the Howrah Municipal Corporation area, Bally, Uluberia and Bagnan, among other places, with a population of over three million, has been earmarked for a revitalisation plan under the UK’s Department for International Development umbrella. The project is set to unfold over the next 15-20 years.
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[dover16]

[Suncity;16705139]Noticed the Emaar MGF site on EM Bypass. The banners are up. Is the hotel (or whatever they are going to build) design completed?

It will be a 250 room super luxury JW Mariott hotel, not sure if this render is valid ..

[Suncity]

Convention Centre site, New Town

[Suncity]

India’s tallest green building in Sec V

TOI epaper

In just over six months, the IT hub at Salt Lake will be home to the country’s tallest green building. The 16-storey tower is also the second green building in the city after Technopolis, another IT facility in Sector V.
Apart from incorporating the environment-friendly standards required for US green building certification agency LEED’s gold rating, the Rs 100-crore building will have an exclusive parking lot for bicycles, a first in the country. There will be provision to expand the initial capacity of 220 bicycles if the trend catches on.
“We wish to encourage techies living in Salt Lake and New Town to cycle down to work. There will be shower stalls so that they can freshen up,” PS group director Pradeep Chopra said. The Tech Park is being developed jointly by PS group and Srijan group.
With IT majors insisting on green buildings, developers are going green despite a 20% hike in development cost. The high capital investment is, however, offset by low maintenance cost as the stress on efficiency leads to 20% saving in energy and water consumption, 38% reduction in waste water generation and 22% slash in construction waste.
Apart from using materials that have good insulation to prevent the heat to seep in, the air conditioning system will be so designed that the chiller unit consumes electricity at night when tariffs are low and cools the building during the day without the need for major electricity consumption when tariffs are high.

[SarafIndian]

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-n...ssions/244368/

'Green SEZ’ to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Though many SEZs have already come up or are in the pipeline, the city is soon likely to have ‘green SEZs’, which will be designed in a manner that will enable them to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Two such SEZs in the state are being mooted by real estate majors, P S Group and the Srijan Group. The Srijan Group SEZ, which will cater to the IT and ITeS industry, will come up on 50 acre-plot alongside the Kona Expressway. “We are yet to approach the Board of Approval (BoA) for SEZs for permission but we will be doing that soon,” said R N Agarwal, Director of Srijan Projects. The company is expecting to start work on the project in the next six months and plans to finish it in the next three to four years. Land for the proposed project is being directly purchased from the farmers without the intervention of any government agency.
The expected cost of the project is going to be Rs 1,000 crore. Another mega SEZ is being planned in the state by the P S Group, which claims that the new SEZ that is being proposed at Rajarhat will span anywhere between 250-400 acres and will involve an investment of Rs 3,000-3,500 crore.

The Rajarhat SEZ, which will be a service sector SEZ, will in all likelihood involve infrastructure for services such as IT, education, tourism and health. The P S Group has already signed an FDI agreement with a Singapore-based SEZ infrastructure development company which is going to partner the P S Group in the Kolkata project as well as in other SEZs that the company has planned in Jaipur, Raipur and Chandigarh. The total investment for all the four SEZs is in the range of Rs 9,500 crore. “The FDI partner will be financing up to 75 per cent of the project cost for the projects,” said Pradip Chopra, Chairman and MD of the PS Group.

[SarafIndian]

http://www.telegraphindia.com/107112...ry_8601409.asp

Freight corridor to connect Calcutta

New Delhi, Nov. 27: The government plans to extend the Rs 28,000-crore east-west freight corridor to a new port near Calcutta.

The cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) today agreed in principle to lay the freight corridor and extend it to Calcutta following a demand from the Bengal government and pressure exerted by the Left.

“In view of the representation by the Bengal government and considering the possibility of increase in freight traffic, the eastern corridor will be extended up to the proposed deep sea port in the Calcutta area,” finance minister P. Chidambaram said.

The government plans to construct a deep sea port, possibly at the Sagar island, as neither Calcutta nor Haldia ports has sufficient depth to cater to large ships.

The finance minister said RITES was conducting a pre-feasibility study for the Sonnagar-Calcutta section of the eastern corridor. The CCEA will approve the extension only after the study is complete. However, no time frame has been set for the study.

The dedicated multi-modal high-axle load freight corridor will cost around Rs 28,181 crore, of which the eastern corridor will need Rs 11,859 crore and the western corridor will cost about Rs 16,592 crore, Chidambaram said.

“On the eastern side, the corridor will be from Ludhiana and on the western side the corridor will connect Jawaharlal Nehru port near Mumbai to Tughlakabad and Dadri near Delhi,” the finance minister said.

The eastern corridor will start from Ludhiana, pass through Ambala, Saharanpur (Haryana), Khurja, Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh) and Sonnagar (Bihar). From Sonnagar a feeder route to Durgapur will pass through Gomoh. From Durgapur, the corridor will eventually be extended to the new port being planned near Calcutta.

Other primary feeder routes from Sonnagar would be to Tatanagar through Garhwa Road and Barkakana to Bokaro via Chandrapura. These feeder routes will be upgraded to carry heavier trains carrying minerals.

However, there have been differences regarding the costing of the project between the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the railways. While the agency had projected a cost of Rs 50,000 crore in its report on the dedicated freight corridor, the railways estimated it at Rs 28,000 crore.

Besides, the Japanese agency wants the tracks to be fully electrified and operation of double-stack or double-storied containers. Railways officials, however, do not agree with the agency’s suggestion. They feel international standard double-stack containers run by electric traction are not commercially viable.

Dedicated Freight Corridor of India Limited will acquire 5,270 hectares of land for the 1,483km Delhi-Mumbai western corridor. It will acquire 3,563 hectares for the 1,279km Delhi-Calcutta eastern corridor.

The Japanese agency had also ruled out extending the corridor to the ports of Calcutta and Haldia as both are river ports of shallow depth of 8 and 8.5 metres, respectively.

The eastern corridor is expected to result in industrial development of the region and generate enough transport demand.

[arijeetb]

http://www.telegraphindia.com/107112...ry_8600144.asp

Airconditioned Tata Indigo taxis will ply on the city roads from early next year.

The state transport department has decided to initially grant permits to 300 such taxis. “They can be summoned over the phone,” said transport minister Subhas Chakraborty at Writers’ Buildings on Tuesday.

Special phone booths will be set up at strategic points in the city, from where the taxis can be booked. Personal phones cannot be used to call a taxi. The passenger has to mention from where he or she wants to be picked up.

“A hub will route the request to the appropriate driver. He will also be given the passenger’s phone number,” added Chakraborty.

Like the existing taxis, the Indigo taxis will be privately owned. The fares will be 25 per cent higher than that in ordinary taxis.

Also, the meters of the new taxis will start to run as soon as the driver receives a request. The passenger has to pay for the distance the taxi travels to pick him or her up.

Transport department officials said the 300 taxis would be on the road within the next two months. The number of taxis may be increased after gauging the public response.

“We have plans to increase the number of airconditioned taxis. Unless we are sure about their service, we cannot do so. We will keep an eye on the new taxis for a couple of months and then decide whether to increase their number,” said a senior official.

BUS FLEET: Besides taxis, new buses are set to ply on the roads. The state cabinet on Tuesday approved a plan to buy 400 new buses. The bill will come to Rs 68 crore, with each bus costing Rs 17 lakh.

“Five per cent of the amount will be funded by transport corporations like the North Bengal State Transport Corporation, South Bengal State Transport Corporation and the Calcutta Tramways Company,” said the transport minister.

The government will take the remaining amount as a loan from the state cooperative bank.

Hope they release renderings of the new buses

[arijeetb]

http://www.godrejproperties.com/CommGodrejWaterside.htm

[Suncity]

Terminus Mall, New Town

[Suncity]

Hiland Woods, New Town

http://www.hilandcal.com/project_hwood.htm

photo cc rights suncity

[Suncity]

Not sure what happened to the Shrachi-Hudco-Vedic-Intercontinental hotel but here's another proposal. Will the DGCA/AAi give permission for such a tall complex? I have heard that Akankha and Hilandwood had to reduce number of floors - but not sure - also the last time the Vedic hotels was reported in Telegraph, there were some clearance issues from the state which wanted a helipad on top ?

Westin Kolkata will be 1,000 feet tall??

http://www.reuters.com/article/press...007+BW20071129

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide continues its aggressive expansion in Asia Pacific, announcing agreements to manage three new Westin hotels in three of the fastest growing markets in India Hyderabad, Pune and Kolkata. Westin has previously announced hotel developments across the country, including hotels in Gurgaon, Sohna and Bangalore.

The Westin Kolkata, Rajarhat, located in a prime spot in Rajarhat, the new central business district of Kolkata city, will open in 2010. The hotel will be a key part of an eight-acre, mixed-use development consisting of hotel, offices,residences and retail shops. The Westin hotel will be housed in a tower that will soar more than 1,000 feet into the sky, giving the new development a high degree of visibility. The new Westin will offer 323 guestrooms, including 31 suites, as well as five restaurants and bars, more than 21,000 square feet ofmeeting space, Heavenly Spa by Westin, an outdoor swimming ool,WestinWORKOUT gym and business center.

[Hindustani]

Wow. Great shot Sun.

Originally Posted by Suncity

Hiland Woods, New Town
photo cc rights suncity

[Euromast]

Ideal Heights, near Sealdah

[SarafIndian]

Now infy got a new issue for not coming in Bengal.

Telegraph

Infy pricks, Buddha pledges - Nandi effect on investors

Calcutta, Nov. 29: Nandigram is beginning to bite Bengal where it hurts most, emboldening prospective investors to voice concern in public and question the government’s pace of work.

Infosys, the IT giant whose proposal for a project in Calcutta is caught in a price tangle, today said the company would weigh risk factors before deciding on the state even if land of its choice was offered now.

“The news of Nandigram has even reached Bangalore and it creates a misconception and fear psychosis in the minds of clients,” T.V. Mohandas Pai, the human resource director of Infosys, said in Calcutta.

Pai’s choice of words — “misconception” — makes it clear he does not share the perception of the clients. But he added that the company has not heard from the Bengal government for the last six months. “The slow pace at which the government works here will hurt the state much more in the long run,” he said.

The Infosys official did not make the comments on his own but was replying to specific questions on the sidelines of a meeting on human resource development. Infosys co-chairman Nandan Nilekani attended the meeting but was not present when Pai fielded the questions.

The IT company had been driving a hard bargain with the state over the price and location of land (see chart). But the company — or any other business venture — had so far taken care not to make comments in public critical of the government, although some industrialists had expressed concern at the lack of speed.

Today’s comments suggest the widespread outrage caused by the CPM’s “recapture” of Nandigram had been noted by industry. This is in contrast to the largely restrained response to the March 14 firing in which 14 people were killed.

Industry was then willing to give the benefit of doubt to the government which said a law-and-order situation had spun out of control after provocation.

The expression of concern was not limited to Infosys today. ITC chairman Y.C. Deveshwar said his company was unable to start an agri-cum-food project as the state was yet to provide land. Orissa has offered plots, he said.

“ITC is from Calcutta. We want to do it here. I have made a commitment to the chief minister. So we are still waiting,” Deveshwar said.

Eager to allay the fears, industries minister Nirupam Sen issued a statement in the evening, reaffirming the government’s commitment to “industrialisation efforts”.

“The delay in land acquisition is due to a process of consultation with the stakeholders in order to generate confidence that this will help them for a better future. The state government is always for responsible industrialisation and seeks the cooperation of all sections of society, including the Opposition...,” Sen’s statement said.

IT minister Debesh Das admitted a long time had passed since the Infosys project was mooted but said the state was in touch with the company.

If more prospective investors air their misgivings, an unintended fallout of the Nandigram “recapture” could be the further shrinking of the state’s bargaining power.

Questions have often been raised why high-technology, cash-rich companies should be gifted huge tracts of land for a song, ignoring the value of other positives — such as manpower and political stability — a state like Bengal has.

But issues such as Nandigram could overshadow such strengths, especially with other states falling over each other to pamper investors.

[Jai]

Originally Posted by Suncity

Not sure what happened to the Shrachi-Hudco-Vedic-Intercontinental hotel but here's another proposal. Will the DGCA/AAi give permission for such a tall complex? I have heard that Akankha and Hilandwood had to reduce number of floors - but not sure - also the last time the Vedic hotels was reported in Telegraph, there were some clearance issues from the state which wanted a helipad on top ?

Westin Kolkata will be 1,000 feet tall??

http://www.reuters.com/article/press...007+BW20071129

Awesome news. At least people are thinking big. That's the first step

[Suncity]

Originally Posted by Jai

Awesome news. At least people are thinking big. That's the first step

Or it could be a typo - although I did see the same news at the starwood website.

[Suncity]

Greenwood Sonata, New Town

http://www.shrachi.com/bengalshrachi...nata/index.htm

photo cc rights suncity

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