To keep up with the pace of rapid urbanization and growing demand for housing and commercial spaces, New Town, Kolkata was created on the eastern outskirts of Kolkata to serve the dual purposes of:
establishing new business centre to reduce the mounting pressure on the existing Central Business Districts (CBD) and
Increasing housing stock supply by creating new residential units.
It has been planned as a services hub, providing best in class urban infrastructure facility and government service delivery while preserving the cultural heritage of Bengal.
A Greenfield City, with an enviable infrastructural backup it has emerged as the second IT hub of Kolkata, along with a steadily incremental resident population. As a city NewTown Kolkata has been pioneering many world class practices in order to elevate the quality of living of its citizenry and also to successfully leverage large scale direct investments.
Some of the features that make Newtown Kolkata unique among the cities are:
IT IS A IGBC GOLD CERTIFIED CITY – New Town has received gold certification from the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), making it India’s first satellite city to receive the honour. This city has also been declared as a solar city by Government of India
IT IS A STRATEGICALLY LOCATED CITY – The city has Kolkata International Airport on its northern side and is contiguous with Nabadiganta Industrial Township Authority, which is the largest Information technology (IT) hub of eastern India.
ITS BEST IN CLASS CORE INFRASTRUCTURE WHICH IS FUTURE READY – having
i) grid based uninterrupted underground power supply network with T&D losses below 5%,
ii) 100% underground water supply/ drainage/ sewerage network,
iii) Almost 100% Optical fiber ducts under all roads,
iv) 24/7 treated water supply,
v) 100% treatment of sewage with an installed capacity for one million population,
vi) 100% street network coverage with large right-of-way (12 to 40 Mt),
vii) 100% door-to-door waste collection and
viii) Higher FAR on metro corridor for encouraging development all along with mandating up to 10% extra FAR for Green Buildings for using renewables.
ITS AVAILABILITY OF ADEQUATE OPEN SPACE – with 23 parks, playgrounds and recreational facilities like Eco Park ( awarded Bronze by the World Urban Park ), this city has 28% open space coverage which is higher than URDPFI guidelines.
IT IS A COMPACT MIXED USE CITY – The Central Business District allows up to 49% use of land for residential purpose. In residential areas upto 40% of residential space is allowed for commercial purpose. City also follows cluster based approach to development ensuring compact growth of neighborhoods.
IT IS A HUB FOR IT AND FINTECH – Already home to major IT bigwigs like TCS, Accenture etc NewTown Kolkata is poised to emerge as a major financial centre by 2030. Seventeen acres in NewTown have been earmarked for a fintech hub, which
a) provides plug and play infrastructure
b) is close to the IT hub of Newtown and NDITA
c) Close to four functioning Universities, Cultural Centres, Biswabangla Convention Centre and Business Club. Already Fintech Majors like Allahabad Bank, Bank of Baroda, HDFC etc have marked their presence.
IT IS A CITY FOR CONVENTIONS – BISWABANGLA CONVENTION CENTRE- The largest auditorium in the region with 3200 seats, two Auditoriums, 4 Banquet Halls, Exhibition Place and Exhibition Ground.
IT IS A CULTURALLY VIBRANT CITY – Presence of large number of cultural and recreation centres like Nazrul Tirtha, Rabindra Tirtha, Eco Park, Arts Acre Foundation, Seniors Park, Mother’s Wax Museum, Mela Ground etc to name a few, in a city growing as planned Finance/ Legal/ Education/ Health/ IT hub thus creating a balanced and vibrant environment.
Noteworthy is the fact that in order to provide a Quality lifestyle along with a dose of social indulgence to the resident population, this city has a 100% Government owned Club named Newtown Business Club which provides numerous recreational and sports facilities like Billiards, Swimming, Shooting, Lawn tennis etc to name a few.
IT IS AN E-CITY – This township has Online city governance on a 360 degree basis ensuring a seamless delivery of Government services including key municipal services like Building plan approval, issue of Trade Licenses, Birth and Death registration, Assessment and Payment of Property taxes etc.
IT IS A SUSTAINABLE CITY – The city ensures 100% door to door collection of waste and emptying of community bins every day. All Solid Waste Management Vehicles and Street Sweeping Vehicles have GPS trackers. Also efforts are on to implement segregation of wastes on a pan city basis.
IT IS A CONNECTED CITY – New Town Kolkata has a sustainable public transport system. Electric buses have been procured and are operational for intra city commutation. It is already home to a large number of e-rickshaws. Also in order to provide a fillip to green modes of mediums of transport, electric charging points are being installed throughout the city. Further Metro Rail construction is going on which will provide an excellent connectivity. Also Dedicated bicycle lanes are being built all across the city to encourage cycling.
IT IS A RESPONSIVE CITY – NewTown Kolkata Development Authority, the defacto ULB for NewTown, has ensured an excellent responsive city governance through effective management practices.
IT ASPIRES TO BE A HAPPY CITY – This city aspires to be a Happy city and in collaboration with IIT Kharagpur necessary interventions are being conceptualized and chalked out.
