Project delay hits EM Bypass mall

Delay in the execution of Mani Square, the retail-cum-ITeS complex on the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass (EM Bypass) on the outskirts of the city has pushed back the launch of high-profile outlets like the RPG Enterprises hypermarket chain Giant in Kolkata.

The Mani Square project would be delayed by at least 10 months, according to sources in the real estate development company, and will open earliest in October 2006.

The source blamed the slippage in execution and completion of the project on delay in securing possession of land and other procedural bottlenecks. In other words, the entire blame is being shifted to government agencies and departments involved in clearances.

"We received the possession of the land only in June 2004 while the plan was sanctioned by the Kolkata Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) in November 2003. We began working on the project without any loss of time," an official of the Mani Group, the company developing the project, said. The project would be ready only in December 2006.

The entire project cost is likely to be in the region of Rs 250 crore.

The project is coming up on a four-acre plot carved out of the premises of the public sector enterprise Bengal Chemicals Ltd.

The unused land was handed over to the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) which leased it out to the Mani Group for 999 years, the official added.

Total space in the tower along with three other floors would be 600,000 square feet.

The company will start marketing the IT and retail spaces once the underground section of the structure is completed and project work at upper levels is initiated.

Mani Square will include a tower for the IT and ITeS sectors and 100,000 square feet of space will be developed for this. Giant has plans to open 21 hypermarket in India by 2006 and had planned to open the Kolkata store in December 2005.

In other words, the Giant store will open as the anchor tenant in the property only in October 2006 owing to slippage in the real estate project. Giant is expected to take a space of 55,000 square feet (sq.ft) while there will be additional retail space of another 200,000 square feet.

Mani Square will have a cineplex over 45,000 square feet and a food court of another 40,000 square feet.

It will house a business club of over 25,000 square feet as well. I-Max is likely to run the cineplex.

Discussion for selection of executing agency for the food court is yet to be concluded.