Bengal's first theme city project bidding next month

The first smart theme city project at Baraipur out of the six planned across the state will go under the hammer next month.
"The Baraipur theme city project will go for bidding next month," IIDC Limited, CEO, Sudip Datta said on the sidelines of a Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industries (BCCI) programme.
Along with the Centre's smart city project, the state government had conceptualised six smart theme cities in the state - a Sports city at Howrah (Kolkata's twin city across the River Hooghly), a senior citizens' city at Baruipur (29 km from Kolkata), a health and education city in Siliguri (in North Bengal), an industrial city in Asansol (206 km from Kolkata), an art and culture city at Bolpur (155 km from Kolkata) and an analytics city at Kalyani (51 km from the Kolkata ).

Datta said the project on 84 acres would be given in lease for 99 years and e-auction would be carried out.
The Government switched plan from offering land as equity for the PPP projects to auction, which would enable the state to raise resources, he said.
According to the plan, at least 25 per cent of the space in these areas (themed cities) would be reserved for the theme and another 25 per cent for economically weaker sections, while commercial development can be carried out in the remaining parts, Datta added.