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Wednesday, January 11, 2012

BENGAL FIRST


Kolkata, Jan. 10: 
Kolkata-headquartered Concast group will enter real estate and hospitality business, as part of its diversification programme. The Rs 5,000-crore group is already in possession of a two-acre plot off Eastern Bypass on the eastern fringes of the city.
It will develop luxury condominiums and a five-star boutique hotel on the property, Mr Sanjay Sureka, chairman and managing director of Concast group, said. Construction is expected to begin in three to four months' time.
Areas of interest
The group is primarily into steel manufacturing and cement production. It also has interests in healthcare.
The two-acre land parcel is being purchased from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) at a cost of Rs 96 crore. The company will invest around Rs 150 crore for setting up the proposed luxury apartments and the hotel facility.
“While land costs will be paid from our own resources; development of properties will be carried out through bank loans,” Mr Sureka said.
Timeframe
The company has a timeframe of 90 days to make payment to the civic authorities for the purchased land. Following the payment, it has to apply for obtaining the necessary clearances and permits.
“We are finalising our designs as well as our contractors for the project. Construction work is likely to start in another four months,” Mr Surekha added.
According to him, the company is likely to sign management contract of the hotel property after completion. The group is also eyeing land parcels across the State for more projects. He, however, did not elaborate.
Other sectors
The company has already bagged infrastructure projects worth Rs 5,000 crore from different State governments, including Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.
“It will take us around two years to execute these orders,” Mr Surekha said.



Kolkata, Jan. 10: 
Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Ltd on Tuesday said the country's first aerotropolis or airport city project at Andal in West Bengal will be operational in the last quarter of this year. The company, which is already in talks with local airlines, will convene an airlines meet next month to firm up commercial arrangements.
Spread over nearly 1,820 acres, the airport city will be located close to Durgapur, nearly 160 km from Kolkata. While the airport will cover nearly one-third of the area or 650 acres, housing projects, hospitals, IT hubs and industrial zones will come up on the remaining 1,200 acres.
“The airlines meet is expected to take place either on February 7 or February 8. We are also in discussion with different airlines to start operating in the region,” said Mr Subrata Paul, Chief Executive Officer and Director of the company. He did not divulge investment figures for setting up the proposed airport.
The airport will have one runway and four bays for aircraft.
The Kolkata-headquartered company is promoted by Changi Airports India Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Singapore's Changi Airports International Pte Ltd, Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd, Pragati Social Infrastructure & Development Ltd, Pragati 47 Development Ltd, Lend Lease Company (India) Ltd and Citystar Infrastructures Ltd. Changi Airport has a 26 per cent stake in the project.
The project with land requirements of nearly 2,000 acres had ran into trouble because of local resistance and over acquisition of farmland.
Bengal first
When asked about its Ludhiana project, a senior official of the company said issues relating to obtaining permissions and clearances were being worked out.
Mr Paul said: “Let us complete this project (Bengal project) first. Ludhiana is still work in progress.”
The company on Tuesday entered into a memorandum of understanding with The Mission Hospital to set up a 500-bed multi-speciality facility hospital at the aerotropolis. The hospital will invest nearly Rs 150 crore to set up the facility, Dr Satyajit Bose, Chairman, said.


CM rises above politics to keep Bengal in business

KOLKATA: Mamata Banerjee the Trinamool Congress chief took a back seat on Monday to let Mamata Banerjee the chief minister take centrestage and, while her lieutenants hit the streets against Congress, she herself brushed off petty politics to focus on her top priority - bring development and big business to Bengal.

So, as her Cabinet juniors notched up the attack on the coalition partner at a rally on Mayo Road, Mamata launched a charm offensive on business leaders a few kilometres away at the Milon Mela Grounds, where she inaugurated her government's first major industry event. The chief minister drew the line between political leader and administrator even as the Congress high command in New Delhi hinted that it was keen on keeping the alliance with Trinamool Congress, both at the Centre and the state.

Promising industrialists, some of whom had flown in from other cities and abroad to hear the chief minister's business pitch, Mamata assured an initially non-reactive audience that her government was not against industry. "If anyone wants to set up industry in Bengal, all you need to do is send us a proposal. Land ceiling won't be a problem. I have already constituted a committee on industry and infrastructure that will examine a proposal and give clearance in seven days. The government has already cleared seven such proposals," she said.

Sensing the sentiments of Marwari businessmen, some of whom feel let down by the way non-executive directors of the AMRI Hospitals have been put in custody after the fire on December 9, the chief minister tried to cheer them up. "Let us not talk about individuals. A murder is a murder. The government is all for industry," she said.




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