The state government on Thursday awarded the Rs 2,500-crore contract for an international convention centre at Rajarhat to the Unitech-Universal Success consortium.

?It?s an important development for us. We have fulfilled our vow to set up an international convention centre in the state after the NDA government turned down our request to build one here,? said housing minister Goutam Deb.

The Delhi-based Unitech and the Indonesia-based Universal Success, owned by Prasun Mukherjee, had recently teamed up to bag the contract for the logistics hub on Kona Expressway.

Half-a-dozen developers, including DLF, TCG and Bengal Ambuja, were in the fray for the convention centre contract.The government will lease a 100-acre plot to the consortium for Rs 150 crore. The market rate is Rs 600 crore.

?Convention centres are operated on low-profit margins, so we decided to lease the land to the developers at a subsidised rate,? Deb explained.

The Unitech-Universal combine will, however, be required to pay Rs 437 crore in phases as annual royalty for the 99-year lease.

?They have already made a payment of Rs 5 crore,? the minister stated.

The convention centre, approximately eight km from the airport, will come up in two phases in Action Area II. It will comprise a large auditorium, several star hotels, including a five-star one, service apartments, a golf course, a culture plaza, exhibition halls, arts and crafts galleries, office towers, a museum and retail outlets. The plenary hall will be an elevated structure, overlooking the plaza.

?Work will start this winter. The two phases will be completed in five years,? announced Deb. ?The auditorium will come up in the first phase, followed by the hotels in the next.?

Principal consultant in the project RMJM, Hong Kong, has designed the Beijing International Green Convention Centre and the international convention centre in Dubai.

JWT Marriott, one of the largest operators of convention centres across the globe, is the operating partner in the project.

During the day, Deb announced another housing project in New Town Action Area III, consisting of 20,000 flats for the medium and low-income groups.