Newstrack

South City-Merlin Consortium inks agreement with KMDA for 'Logistics Hub'

To have hotels, conferencing facilities

Joy Roy Choudhury - Kolkata

Kolkata-based consortium of South City Projects and Merlin Group has inked a development agreement with Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority to set up an IT Logistics Centre at the Salt Lake Electronics Complex, the IT hub of the city.

To be set up on the lines of Delhi's India Habitat Centre, the proposed IT Logistics Hub will include hotels offering short staying facilities for IT professionals and working women, food courts, recreation plazas, retail outlets and banqueting facilities for hosting conferences, business meets and conventions. It will also provide plug-in secretarial facilities for IT/ITeS professionals and other logistics support for their business requirements.

The Consortium is reported to have paid a whopping Rs 143 crore to KMDA to acquire the 4.3 acre plot at Salt Lake's Sector -V.

Confirming the development, Pradeep Sureka, director of South City Projects said, "The South City-Merlin Group combine has won the technical bid to develop the project." Earlier, KMDA had invited bids from real estate developers for development of an IT logistics centre at Salt Lake, a first-of-its-kind project in the state. The project is touted to be one of the biggest public-private-partnership (PPP) projects of the state. KMDA, the development authority under the State's Department of Urban Development has been developing vital infrastructure projects for the Kolkata Metropolitan Area under the PPP model.

Industry watchers however opined that this is one of the biggest land deals in the city. Earlier, DLF and Emaar MGF had acquired two different plots of land for their respective hotel projects in the city in record land deals. A senior KMDA official remarked, "We have received bids from six other leading real estate developers including DLF."

As per the terms of the agreement, a 50:50 joint venture will be floated between KMDA and the South City Projects-Merlin Group combine for implementation of the project. The proposed investment on the project is likely to be between Rs 250-300 crore. The project is likely to be completed by 2010. Once the joint venture is formed a board will be constituted with representation from both, the KMDA and the Consortium.

The official said that the Consortium was selected through a transparent bidding process and after proper evaluation the combine will have the ability to set up an infrastructure project of this magnitude.