The Bengal government has managed to find a buyer for five incomplete residential towers located at the heart of Newtown, raising the prospect of urban regeneration in the area. A special purpose vehicle of Calcutta-based Srijan Realty has emerged as the top bidder in the e-auction conducted by West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation. The auction outcome will now be put before the state cabinet for approval of the bid process. “The auction was successful. We will put up the result before the cabinet. I am not at liberty to say anything more,” said Debashish Sen, managing director of HIDCO.

The starting bid price for the 6.29-acre corner plot on the main arterial road in Action Area 1 of Newtown was set at Rs 181 crore. Srijan is understood to have bid upward of Rs 200 crore. There were three entities who participated in the auction concluded on Wednesday.

The plot was originally part of Sankalpa Housing Project which was developed by West Bengal Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation. While the government-owned company completed three other plots of the master project and allotted units by 2014, site -1 was left unfinished and became an eyesore over time without maintenance.

“We plan to overhaul the structure which is an eyesore in spite of being in the best of locations, change the elevation a bit and add a dash of retail space. This will be one of our signature projects,” Pawan Agarwal, director of Srijan Realty, said. He, however, cautioned that it is premature to talk in detail as the state cabinet would take the final call on whether the project would be awarded to Srijan.

There are 259 apartments on offer in the five towers, having a total saleable area of 566,476 square feet, the bid document showed. Apart from 138 HIG units, 106 duplexes and 15 penthouses were under construction in the five towers. The project also boasts a basement, a clubhouse and a swimming pool. The new owner can access a 20 per cent additional FAR (floor area ratio) as the project is located next to a metro line, according to a newly amended building rule.

A report by consultancy JLL published on Wednesday noted apartment sales in the eastern market of Calcutta found the most traction in the first half of this year. Proximity to the airport and IT parks and affordable projects were cited as the prime reason by Surekha Bihani, managing director (East) JLL, India, in the report.