| The Left Front government of West Bengal is going flat out to bag foreign investment in township development. |
| The Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA), an agency of the government of West Bengal, has floated a global tender for a $1 billion, 5,010-acre township at Dankuni, 25 km west of Kolkata. |
| This comes six months after the state government signed a deal in November 2004 with the Indonesia-based Ciputra and Salim groups on a non-competitive basis to develop an integrated satellite township in Howrah named the Kolkata West International City spread over 400 acres combining residential and commercial zones. |
| The Indonesian investor group claimed it would require investments in the region of $350 million, but land for the project was handed over at a nominal price. |
| The proposed township at Dankuni, which has been evaluated and found feasible by international property consultant CB Richard Ellis, will involve a much bigger investment. |
| "We estimate that the project cost will easily surpass $1 billion in view of the size of the project and its proximity to the central business district via the existing six-lane highway," sources in the state government told Business Standard. |
| The cost of development and construction will work out to around Rs 1 crore an acre, which, the sources said, was reasonable for a full-fledged township, excluding the cost of land. |
| The 5,010 acre plot has a zone of 941 acres set aside for industrial users, while 4,069 acres will be occupied by housing and public spaces. |
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