The civic authorities are keen to rope in big developers for the revamp of New Market and other properties ? such as Entally Market and Vidyasagar Mancha ? across the city.

As part of the push, mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya and municipal commissioner Alapan Bandyopadhyay last week had met a few prominent names in the realty business. It was the first-of-its-kind meeting at the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC).

The participants ? including L&T, Sapoorji-Palanji, DLF, Unitech and Simplex ? were sounded out about the projects and asked to offer suggestions. The authorities, sources said, were keen to know the requirements of big developers before floating tenders or inviting letters of expression.

?We want to tie up with big and competent builders for large-scale redevelopment projects,? said the mayor. ?Earlier, the civic body used to be in the dark about the builders? requirement while floating tenders. No wonder, the projects failed to attract big players.?

Sources said that after the letter of expression was drafted, the authorities would sit again with the developers to discuss the format of public- private partnership on development.

Around two dozen CMC projects have been pending over the past 20 years. These include Gariahat Market, College Street Market, Lansdowne Market, Kankurgachhi VIP Market, Vidyasagar Mancha and Mohit Mancha.

In the first phase, the authorities plan to redevelop the 120-year-old New Market and Entally Market, and complete Vidyasagar Mancha and an adjacent market complex.

Mayoral council member Faiyaz Ahmed Khan said a private company had already submitted an expression of interest for redeveloping the six-bigha Entally Market into a multi-storeyed shopping plaza with parking facilities.

Redevelopment of New Market, commissioner Bandyopadhyay pointed out, is difficult because of several reasons ? it has been marked as a heritage structure and is highly congested (the traders have taken up around 70 per cent of the pathways).

Another hurdle in the market?s redevelopment are the bleak chances of fund generation from stall-owners.

?The traders want the place to be revamped, but at the cost of others. They are reluctant to budge even an inch. That was why a makeover plan in 1988, during the tenure of the previous Left Front board, failed to materialise,? said Khan.

The commissioner warned that if the market was not redeveloped, it might have to be closed down for the sake of public safety.

?We are not against redevelopment. Problems related to the issue can be sorted out across the table,? said Pradip Chakraborty, of New Market Shopkeepers? Welfare Association.