Milan Mela, a Central project, was expected to be completed by October 2009 and ready for being booked for all the fairs held in the city from February 2010 onwards.

The WBIDC’s decision to write to the Centre for funds comes 15 days after the Supreme Court threw away a writ petition filed by two private parties that had forced the Union government to stop the release of the pending funds. The Centre is supposed to give Rs 15 crore of the total allocation of Rs 35 crore. Initially, the Centre released around Rs 5 crore in 2006. But after the litigations started, the Centre stopped releasing funds, as the matter became sub judice.

“There are several litigations over the land. However, one major case filed by two private parties in the Supreme Court has been disposed of. Even then, there are some cases, which are yet to be resolved. One case, filed by Indian Craft Village Trust (ICVT), is still pending in the high court,” said Subrata Gupta, the WBIDC managing director.

“We will write to the Centre soon. Once we receive the money, we can restart the work at Milan Mela. As of now, we have started receiving rents from some of the organisers. Once the fair ground is ready, we will frame a new revenue model,” said Nandini Chakraborty, CEO, WBIDC.

“We have planned to finish all the pending construction works between April to February next. During the work, we will not rent out the ground,” added Chakraborty.

The Milan Mela was mooted three years ago on the lines of Pragati Maidan in Delhi. Accordingly, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) was asked to allot land to the state government for the purpose.

The West Bengal Trade Promotion Organisation — a joint venture between KMC and WBIDC — was set up for looking into the development of Milan Mela. Phase-I of the project will have 14 acres of land while phase-II will cover another 10 acres.