Curation Team
KOLKATA: Bengal govt will unlock around 20 acres – the size of 20 football fields – in New Town Action Area II and III for residential, commercial and mixed-use purposes. HIDCO will allot the land parcels on a freehold basis through e-auction next month.
Two plots of 4.1 acre each in Action Area II and three plots measuring 7.3 acres, 3.2 acres, and 0.6 acres in Action Area III have been identified for development. The starting bid price for the largest land parcel of 7.3 acre has been fixed at Rs 292.2 crore while that for the smallest of 0.6 acre has been kept at Rs 26 crore.
Govt officials said New Town was being developed with a planned population of 10 lakh. With Action Area I and parts of Action Area II already developed, the focus was now on the rest of Action Area II and Action Area III.
The average cost of plots earmarked for mixed-use in Rajarhat-New Town is Rs 30 crore to Rs 40 crore per acre depending on its position and proximity to the main arterial roads. It was decided a few years back that all plots in the township would be sold only through commercial bidding.
“New Town is planned on about 7,598 acres of land on the north-eastern fringes of Kolkata and is fast emerging as one of the country’s fastest-growing planned cities. It is situated 10 km from Kolkata’s central business district, adjacent to Salt Lake and close to the airport. Around 12,000 dwelling units have already been constructed in the township, and another 16,000 units are coming up. The township is expected to have around two lakh dwelling units catering to housing needs in the near future,” an official said.
Welcoming the decision, New Town Citizens Welfare Fraternity secretary Samir Gupta said, “The more residential and commercial housing comes up, the better it will be for the township’s overall development. The authorities should also look to improve civic infrastructure, especially in Action Area III, and should consider exploring the monorail option, which was proposed earlier to connect Action Area III with Biswa Bangla Sarani.”
Samaresh Das of New Town forum said, “So far, most development in New Town has happened in Action Area I. It is good that more housing will come up with a focus on Action Area III, where IT giants are setting up their offices. This will help in the all-round development of the township.”
