Essel Group pledge to invest Rs.20,000 crore in Bengal

Kolkata, Jan 8 (IANS) Diversified media to education business conglomerate Essel Group Thursday pledged to invest Rs.20,000 crore towards developing two smart cities and and various vital infrastructural projects in West Bengal. The group has submitted a letter of intent (LOI) to the state government to develop the two satellite townships Salt Lake and New Town into smart cities by investing Rs.10,000 crore. "The group was also interested in participating in infrastructural, urban renewal and socially relevant projects worth Rs.10,000 crore through competitive bidding under Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) model and/or EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) model," the LOI said. Essel is targeting projects like toll roads with an investment of Rs.3,000 crore, sanitation and water treatment worth infusion of Rs.2,000 crore, and a project to convert municipal solid waste to energy by pumping in Rs.2,000 crore. Besides, it is eyeing projects like, metro, monorails or Light Rail Transit mass transport involving investment of Rs.3,000 crore. The group's integrated utilities company Essel Utilities Distribution Company Limited (EUDCL) is also looking at projects in power and water distribution services, drainage and storm water management, Wi-Fi, cable and broadband, city gas distribution and intelligent traffic management systems, a release by the Group said