City riverfront to get a retail and office hub, Calcutta port awards plot to Srijan Realty
Telegraph | 30 October 2025Srijan will hold a 60-year lease on the plot, near the erstwhile Armenian warehouse, where an 800,000sqft project will come up at an investment of ₹350 crore. The developer intends to complete the project in four years.
The plot is one of at least 10 projects that the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, formerly Kolkata Port Trust, is tendering out for the redevelopment of both banks of the river, port deputy chairman Samrat Rahi told The Telegraph.
“We have already selected bidders for six land parcels, equally split on the Calcutta and Howrah sides, while the tender process is on for the rest,” Rahi said from Mumbai, venue of the India Maritime Week where Calcutta port has signed agreements for multiple projects.
“The port is looking at a few more land parcels that can be leased out. Once they come up, the riverfront in Calcutta and Howrah will change comprehensively for the better.”
The port has chosen the Calcutta-based Eden Group to build a convention centre at Timber Pond on Foreshore Road, Howrah.
Keshav Agarwal, a director with Srijan, said the developer hoped to come up with a design that reflected the storied past of Strand Road, which was a key trading hub in British India.
“We will have retail space, food and beverage outlets, banquets, and public space in the project,” Agarwal said.
Big picture
Calcutta has struggled to capitalise on its waterfront at a time when riverfronts in most big cities around the world have become prized locations for commercial, retail and residential development.
Most of Calcutta’s riverbank area is now filled with filth and occupied by encroachers, barring places such as Millennium Park.
One key reason, town planners say, is a lack of coordination among the multiple authorities whose involvement is necessary for any redevelopment of the waterfront.
While the port owns the land parcels on both banks, commercial development requires approvals from several state government departments and agencies, including civic authorities.
“I hope the port is looking at comprehensive development on either side of the river and not letting out vacant plots on a piecemeal basis,” architect Abin Chaudhuri said.
What the city needs, he said, is “a master plan that maintains the homogeneity of the different projects”.
Prof. Manish Chakraborty, architect, urban planner and heritage expert, agreed.
“The success of each project will depend also how the areas around it are developed. The riverfront is not an isolated space of some plots; it’s a continuous stretch,” he said.
“The idle space between projects is equally important. A comprehensive framework and guidelines for urban design and landscape are required.”
