Work in state-of-the-art Convention Centre enters final lap, likely to be thrown open in October

Kolkata: Final touches are being given to the country's one of the finest and eastern India's biggest Convention Centre which Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will inaugurate in October.

The Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) in 2016 will be held at the Convention Centre which is coming up at New Town. It took nearly three years to complete the huge construction.

The Convention Centre has a mega convention hall with a seating capacity of 3,000 people which is highest in any auditorium in the country. The seating capacity of the main auditorium of Vigyan Bhavan is 1,200 while those of Shanmukhananda Hall in Mumbai, main convention centre at HICC, Hyderabad and Science City auditorium, Kolkata have 2,750, 2,500 and 2,232 seating capacity.

There will be four large exhibition halls including state banquet with a total carpet area of 17,000 square feet and spacious pre-function area having carpet area of 12,500 square feet. Garden food court linked to exhibition halls and two smaller capacity auditoria each with a seating capacity of 434 people. There will be extensive food and beverage facilities during conferences through provisions of banquet kitchens and satellite kitchens at all levels of conference.

There will be a 112 twin-beded rooms and a business centre with 10 meeting rooms. There will be two specialty restaurants and a 24-hour coffee shop. A business club covering an area of 8,000 square feet comprising a state-of-the-art gymnasium, billiards room and cards room will also be present. An exclusive gents and ladies spa along with gents and ladies salon covering an area of 7,000 square feet with a terrace level swimming pool is one attraction of the centre.

The Convention Centre has 640 car parking facility and 92 open parking and 15 bus parking facilities.

Mamata Banerjee urged Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) officials to set up a Convention Centre which will be a pride of the state. Accordingly, plans were taken and L&T was entrusted to build the centre. Firhad hakim, state Urban Development minister had visited the Centre some months ago to supervise the progress of construction. He had spoken to the engineers and workers of the construction company and had expressed satisfaction. Officials of HIDCO including its chairman Debashis Sen visit the site quite often to oversee construction.

The work to give final touches is being carried out on a war footing to make it an impeccable piece of architecture, designing and

construction. The Convention Centre is situated close to Eco Park, Mother's Wax Museum and Rabindra Tirtha. The embankment of a stretch on the Bagjola canal passing nearby the Centre has been beautified.