July 30, 2015
Canary Wharf model for business hub in Rajarhat
Tall shimmering skycrapers of London’s business district may soon be seen in the heart of Kolkata. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has decided to recreate London’s financial district -Canary Wharf -in Rajarhat.
According to the CM, the financial hub which is already under construction will look like the one in London.
UK India Business Council, WB CM’s hosts in the UK, is planning to open an office in the Kolkata financial district to rope in more investments into Bengal.
The CM said she has decided to give UKIBC land to build their office here.
It is learnt that top executives of J P Morgan and HSBC also met the chief minister and finance minister Amit Mitra to inquire about the hub over the last two days in London.
Spread over some 35.76 acres, the hub has already roped in 11 banks and financial institutions like the NIC, UBI, UCOBank, SBI, Union Bank, Bank of Baroda, Allahabad Bank, Corporation Bank, Sriram Credit and two state government institutions, the West Bengal Financial Corporation and the West Bengal Infrastructure Development Corporation.
“It’s the second such hub in the country after the one at Bandra Kurla in Mumbai,” said Firhad Hakim, urban development minister of Bengal. “Of the 23 plots in the financial hub, 11 have already been booked,” he added.
The Bengal government has already successfully organized three roadshows in Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi to market the New Town financial hub.
Banks, stock exchanges, commodity broking houses, mutual fund companies having an average annual turnover of Rs 500 crore for the last three financial years ending March 31, 2014 are eligible to express their interest in booking plots within the hub.
