Kolkata Port mulls to lease 3.11 acres for riverfront luxury resort at Diamond Harbour

Kolkata: Good news awaits the tourists visiting Gadiara and Geonkhali as Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port (SMP), Kolkata, intends to develop a riverfront luxury resort on 3.11 acres of land at Noorpur-Hooghly Point at Diamond Harbour.

Kolkata Port sources confirmed an Expression of Interest (EoI) has been floated for the project involving the development of a luxury resort with state-of-the-art infrastructure at a riverfront site on the outskirts of Kolkata. The project will be executed on a long-term land lease model.

Sources said that the subject site measuring 3.11 acres is located in Noorpur, between Falta and Diamond Harbour in Diamond Harbour-II Block of South 24-Parganas. The site is well connected via Noorpur Road to Diamond Harbour Road, an important thoroughfare that connects Kolkata and its south-western suburbs. The site presently accommodates a labour quarter of the port. The place enjoys good frontage on the river.

It is learnt that “an upper mid-scale hotel” is being proposed there since the place is near tourist spots. The Noorpur ferry Ghat is located near the site from which the famous tourist spots of Gadiara and Geonkhali can be reached. “The riverfront is being considered as the biggest USP of the project,” sources said.

As for the need for this project, sources said that in a bid to increase the revenue potential of Kolkata Port for its future sustainability, it has planned to explore new business offerings such as the development of a domestic and international cruise terminal at Kolkata. In order to support cruise tourism in Kolkata, the land banks of Hooghly riverfront needs to be developed with hospitality, leisure, recreation, adventure, amusement and entertainment such that it caters to the tourists visiting Kolkata as well as meets the demand for riverfront destination for both the people of this city and nearby districts of West Bengal.

Port authorities are of the opinion that after the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a shift in the tourism industry where people are more inclined towards weekend destinations/staycations instead of taking long travel trips. Thus, resorts and luxury stays by the riverside at a travel distance of 2-3 hours from Kolkata by road, and also connectivity through ferries, have immense potential to be developed as tourism hotspots.