The Hindu Business Line : Rs 250-cr multi-utility infrastructure project coming up near Kolkata

BENGAL Peerless Housing Development Co. Ltd, a joint sector company of the West Bengal Housing Board and the Peerless General Finance & Investment Co Ltd, today rolled out a Rs 250-crore, multi-utility infrastructure project at New Town, Rajarhat, on the outskirts of Kolkata.

To be implemented in the phased manner, the project is scheduled for completion within the next three years, according to Mr Gautam Deb, West Bengal's Minister for Housing & Public Health Engineering.

Speaking at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the project today, Mr Deb said that the "Axis" project would be spread across 4.75 acres of land and have a total built up area of five lakh sq.ft. It would have brand shops, lifestyle boutiques, auto showrooms, kids corner, food courts and a rooftop tennis academy, among other things.

He said that, as part of its public-private partnership initiative, the State Government had floated eight joint sector companies with a view to providing the necessary fillip to housing and infrastructure development.

In the years ahead, Rajarhat New Town would house two million people, besides a host of corporates and IT companies.

"Elsewhere, the required infrastructure, including social infrastructure, is created only after people move in to newly developed areas. In this case, we are creating the necessary infrastructure first so that whatever people want is readily available before they start living here", Mr Deb said.

According to him, the potential of Rajarhat New Town can be gauged by the fact that 193 acres of land there has been earmarked for IT companies. This includes 40 acres that would be allotted to Wipro. A Singapore firm has already acquired 20 acres of land at Rajarhat for setting up an IT park.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Jyoti Basu, former Chief Minister of West Bengal, said that, since coming to power nearly three decades ago, the Left Front Government has been focused on developing townships around Kolkata, that have all modern amenities. Soon, another new township would be developed in Howrah district.

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