World Trade Centre Kolkata

The World Trade Centre Kolkata is an under-construction commercial building in the Biddhannagar, Kolkata in the Indian state of West Bengal. It will consist of multiple towers. Upon completion, it will be among the tallest World Trade Centres in India. The location is close to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport.

According to highly placed sources, Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee, during the industry enclave meet in Mumbai, was approached by the promoters of World Trade Centre Mumbai with a proposal to erect a similar structure in Kolkata.

1990 proposal
The first WTC was proposed in 1990 in a 223- Acre plot in East Kolkata with corporate offices, residential space, shopping centers and golf courses. But the project did not succeed since it would cover up the East Kolkata wetlands which were protected by court order.

2013 proposal
The Chief Minister of West Bengal in 2013 had shown keen interest in establishing a World Trade Centre (WTC) in Kolkata. For this, Pawan Dhoot, Managing Director, Dhoot Group, invited Eric Dahl, CEO of World Trade Center's Association (WTCA), the largest international trade association and the government ministers and officials in Kolkata. The ground work related to the project never really started under the Dhoot led consortium.

Merlin Group
Merlin Group later in 2023 announced their partnership with the World Trade Centers Association to develop the World Trade Center in Kolkata which would cover an area of 3.5 million square feet. The project’s License Agreement was signed by Scott Wang, Vice President of the World Trade Centers Association (WTCA) Asia Pacific region, and Merlin Group’s Chairman, Sushil Mohta, and Managing Director, Saket Mohta. Approximately ₹1,500 crore investment proposal was initialized by the company for the implementation of the project.

Location
Merlin Group initialized the development of World Trade Centre project in a 10.5 Acre plot in the Nabadiganta Industrial Township Authority (NDITA) area, Salt Lake Sector V, Kolkata.

The company accessed the prime land which once belonged to Kitchen Appliances India Ltd, a Videocon group entity, through insolvency resolution. Aryan Mining was the successful resolution applicant for KAIL. The owners of Aryan Mining, are related to the Mohta family of the Merlin Group by marriage. Hence, both the firms decided to join hands for completion of the project.

Completion
Phase I (i.e. 55%) of the entire project is planned to be completed by 2nd half of 2024 and 100% completion of the project is expected in 2026.