KOLKATA: A 780-cottah property of the state-owned BSNL, with a developable area of around 630 cottahs, is set to go on sale for Rs 1,900 crore, potentially becoming the largest real-estate deal in Kolkata.
The plot at a prime location — at the intersection of AJC Bose Road and Alipore Road — includes a heritage building on 150 cottahs, and overlooks the Royal Calcutta Turf Club and the Maidan greens. A plot here usually goes for Rs 3 crore per cottah.
The property now houses a BSNL telecom factory. It is set to be put up for sale by National Land Monetization Corporation (NLMC), a company set up by the Centre to unlock and monetise assets held by public sector companies.
This is the third BSNL property in which monetisation is being attempted after plots in Barrackpore and Madhyamgram, on the northern fringes of Kolkata.
BSNL officials said the unit used to manufacture telecom equipment, including handsets and boxes, but now produces only PLB pipes used to lay optical fibre cables for telecommunications. NLMC has already floated a global tender for appointing the transaction adviser (international property consultancy firms) for the deal. The pre-bid meeting for it is on Tuesday.
“We will ideally sell the entire plot on a single bid,” said a BSNL source.
News of the sale sent city-based realtors into a huddle. Many of them were evaluating the pros and cons of making a bid that could make or break their fortunes.
One realtor said the sheer scale of the project and size of investment required would ensure participation of national entities like Phoenix and Tata Housing, as well as local consortiums like South City and Primarc-RDB. “This deal could even see a new consortium being formed between national and local firms,” said a consultant.
Developers in Kolkata said the site was perfect for “mixed-use development”, such as South City on Anwar Shah Road, with a mall abutting AJC Bose Road and “ultra-luxury housing” on the rest of the plot. They said the heritage building on the site could be renovated and put into adaptive reuse as a clubhouse. “There could be shopping and food in the commercial development, catering to residents in Alipore, New Alipore, Chowringhee and AJC Bose Road, as well as Howrah. The AJC Bose Road and Maa flyover mean that it could be as easily accessible to people living along the EM Bypass and off it as well,” said another developer.
Siddharth Pansari, Bengal chapter president of Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India, termed the development “hugely positive” for the city, which has not seen a big planned development to the south of central Kolkata. “Prime plots that are lying waste need to be unlocked and put into productive use,” he said, adding, “For the govt, too, this will rake in huge revenue by way of stamp duty, GST and development fees.”
Developer Harsh Neotia felt many developers would initially show interest, but several would also drop out. “There could be partnerships between developers for this project,” he said.
CREDAI West Bengal president Sushil Mohta said he was keeping a close watch on the development and said Army permission would be required for the project.
Pawan Agarwal, director of NK Realtors, the largest real estate consultant in the east, said there were many positives in the development, but because the plot was next to Army land, there would be height restrictions, that could pull down the project’s valuation.
He also pointed to the limited appetite for ultra-luxury apartments in Kolkata, which is currently pegged at around 50 flats priced over Rs 10 crore in a year. In a development of this size, it would mean the development of around 12 lakh sq ft. If commercial development accounts for 2 lakh sq ft, that would leave 10 lakh sq ft for residential development, or around 200 flats. “That is inventory for four years. This single project could create huge stress on the luxury market,” Agarwal cautioned.
Source Homevior.in
