According to this system, the market will be handed over to a private party for reconstruction and development work. Tenders will be floated next month to invite participation of private parties. Once construction is complete, the private party will collect tax from the shops. KMC will get a fixed share of the amount from the private party. After the lease period gets over, which in this case is likely to be 30 years, the market will be handed over to KMC. This is the first time such a concept is being used to develop any market under the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. “Out of the twenty three municipal markets, New market generates the maximum amount of revenue for KMC,” said a source in the market cell.
The private party in charge of developing the market will be asked to reconstruct the entire market area, which consists of heritage as well as endangered portions. Some parts of the market, including the clock tower that lies along the Lindsay Street that has been declared a heritage building, will have to be kept intact, as per the guidelines of the Heritage commission. The insecure portion of the market will be pulled down to pave the way for a new market complex. The wholesale market selling vegetables and fish that was declared unsafe by KMC will be demolished too. The adjoining KMC staff quarters, also declared unsafe by KMC, will be brought down.
The market will undergo renovation for the first time since 1984. The market had received a facelift that year after it was badly damaged in a fire.