HIDCO to adopt Cross Subsidisation model to attract companies for fintech hub

Kolkata: West Bengal Housing & Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) is adopting Cross Subsidisation model to woo top companies for its proposed fintech hub at New Town. HIDCO will bring in a change in the Central Business District Rule (CBD) for this purpose and will come up with a 30-storeyed building in which 49 percent will be residential and 51 percent for fintech companies.

"We have been witnessing that the young generation nowadays want to have their residence and work place at a minimum distance so that they can manage emergency situations at home while doing work. The government is gradually moving towards personalisation as this is the future of the realty sector. Hence, we have adopted cross subsidisation model," HIDCO chairman Debashis Sen said on the sidelines of 10th edition of Realty Expo organised by Credai Bengal on Friday.

Sen said that the design for this 30-storeyed building will be ready soon. The CBD rules in the government sector do not permit residential and commercial arrangement under the same roof. However, in this respect, the government is relaxing the CBD rule.

Talking about the realty sectors' interest in Kolkata, Sen pointed out the proposed project of Trump Towers that is coming up on Eastern Metropolitan Bypass. "US company of the highest order has chosen the city for investment in realty sector. This is a clear indication that the time has come to dispel the feelings among a section of people that eastern India is lagging behind in this respect," he added.

Sources in the Information Technology department said that Sen who had recently visited the Fintech Festival at Singapore had a detailed discussion with a number of fintech companies where he projected New Town as a fintech destination where tech firms and New Technology ventures will be provided space to work with financial institutions with plug and play infrastructure. 23 firms have already taken up space in the finance hub.

Talking about personalisation in its various proposed projects, the state government in its Gitabitan township at Santiniketan is offering an approved pre-planned sanction to buyers of the housing project. In Snehodiya at New Town, the habitat for elderly citizens, whenever one vacates a room, 75 percent of the price that will be paid at the time of entry will be refunded to the occupant or his or her heirs.

According to a senior IT department official, the government's focus on fintech comes from the fact that it has generated a business of 1.2 billion dollars in the country in 2015 and is expected to grow two times in the year 2020.