KOLKATA: Come Poila Baisakh, the city may witness one of its biggest land deals ever. A 17-acre plot in New Town, valued at over Rs 800 crore, will be tabled for auction in a month. The plot is in Action Area 1, located between Novotel and the Axis Mall. It is one of the largest parcels that’s going for auction in a decade in such a prime area. With approximately 30 lakh square feet of development potential, it should create employment for more than 25,000 people and add crores to govt revenue.
The New Town land was first presented for auction two weeks ago, but due to issues in the tender documents, it found no takers. New tender documents are now being prepared for its reauction. The land belongs to the West Bengal Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation (WBIDFC), which will execute the auction.
Another big deal — previously reported in TOI about a BSNL plot near Taj Bengal in Alipore — is believed to be still in the preliminary phase and may take 4-5 months. The plot was supposed to be valued at over Rs 1,900 crore. National Land Monetizing Corporation (NLMC), a company set up by Centre to unlock assets held by public sector companies and monetise them, is set to put the BSNL factory with a heritage building up for sale. The total land area is a little over 24 acres.
Sources close to the New Town development said that the land parcel was a commercial plot and would be sold as freehold. “Work is on to rectify the problems in the tender documents. Once it is ready, it would be re-auctioned,” added sources. WBIDFC got the 17-acre plot from HIDCO in 2012. “HIDCO borrowed money from WBIDFC, and then in lieu of it, it transferred this plot along with some other plots for residential purposes,” added sources. WBIDFC developed and sold those residential plots over some tranches.
President of Credai, West Bengal, Sushil Mohta, said that the plot could be ideal for mall or hotel projects. Credai Bengal president Siddharth Pansari pointed out that the proposed auction at New Town could be a gamechanger in the entire area.
As of now, the biggest executed land deal in Kolkata was in Aug 2022 when a 5.6-acre plot in Alipore changed hands for Rs 400 crore. Mumbai-based real estate giant The Phoenix Mills Ltd was the highest bidder. Going by the price per acre, Phoenix’s offer of about Rs 71 crore an acre is one of the highest the city has ever seen. Once executed, the New Town land deal could be close to this in terms of price per acre.
In recent times, a 10-acre plot in Nonadanga fetched Rs 260 crore with Ambuja Group emerging as the highest bidder.
