An agreement to develop the Rs 10,000 crore project over an area of 2,300 acres was signed between the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) and the Bengal Aerotropolis Pvt Ltd (BAPL) on Friday in presence of State Commerce and Industries Minister Nirupam Sen.

Besides having an airport, the aerotropolis will comprise aviation-related infrastructure like an aviation academy; night-parking facility to ease the traffic from Kolkata’s Dum Dum airport and a maintenance, repair and overhaul facility. There are also plans to build an industrial park with factories, office parks, IT park, institutional area, with a hospital, market, school, theme park, community centre and housing.

A lot, however, will depend on the acquisition of land for this project, as the state government has already burnt its fingers in acquiring land in Singur and Nandigram.

According to the agreement signed, the WBIDC will be purchasing the land from the owners at the site and hand it over to BAPL. “The terms and conditions of the agreement state that the land is being provided to the BAPL for the sole purpose of developing this project. If the project fails to come up then the land will revert to the WBIDC,” said Sen.

He said that the project will boost the infrastructure development in the region across Asansol, Durgapur, Bankura, Purulia, and Birbhum, and is in sync with the state’s industrialisation policy.

But the entire land for the project will not be handed to the developer at one time. On the basis of progress made, further land will be released, said Sen .

The government did not mention any date for handing over the land to the BAPL. “We have identified the land and negotiations are on with the locals regarding the price. It might take some time as the process involved is different than land acquisition,” said state commerce and industries secretary Sabyasachi Sen.

In the first phase that will commence after the Director General of Civil Aviation approves the project, the airport is expected to be completed within 30 months after the land is allotted to the developer.

“The outside limit set for the completion of the entire project is seven years from the date on which the WBIDC hands over the land to us,” said BAPL chairman Partha Ghosh.

“The cost of constructing the airport would be Rs 500-600 crore, excluding the cost of the land and the project is expected to come up in three to four phases,” he added.

“We have also held preliminary talks with Singapore-based Changi Airports International, inviting them as operators for the airport,” Ghosh said.

A Hong Kong-based company, Townland Consultants Ltd, is preparing the concept master plan for the airport.

The BAPL is a special purpose vehicle (SPV) comprising Pragati Social Infrastructure & Development Ltd, Citystar Infrastructures Ltd and Lend Lease Company (India) Ltd.While Pragati Social Infrastructure & Development Ltd is a 74:26 Joint Venture between HUDCO and Pragati 47 Development Ltd, Citystar Infrastructures Ltd is a Kolkata-based real estate company.