State inks lease agreement with hotel group for running convention centre in Digha

KOLKATA: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's dream of turning Digha into a prime destination for international tourists has received a major boost with the state government entering into a lease agreement with a noted hotel and hospitality group for operation and maintenance of Dighashree Bangla International Convention Centre in Digha.

The star category hotel, located adjacent to the convention centre, in the same premises will also be run and maintained by the group as per the lease agreement for a period of 30 years.

Banerjee had inaugurated the state-of-the-art convention centre at Digha in August 2019. It houses a 1000 seat auditorium and an exhibition hall. The hotel adjacent to the convention centre has 65 rooms. The entire property is spread over 5.5 acres. The convention centre was constructed by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) at a cost of Rs 70 crore. Work had started from August 2017. Recently, the lease agreement was signed by KMDA and the group with Digha Sankarpur Development Authority (DSDA) playing the confirming part. Executive Officer of DSDA, Manas Kumar Mandal, said that the convention centre would surely emerge as one of the prime venue for organising big meetings and conferences. "The foreign delegates attending conference at the convention centre can stay in the star hotel and enjoy the swimming pool, luxurious rooms and other amenities that they look for,"he added.

Apart from various government programmes, seven to eight conferences have already been held at the convention centre.