Ranigunj Square

Auto mart

Shopping complex with multiplex

Entrance to the wholesale market

Driving down National Highway 2 is set to change forever. All these years when you have taken this highway connecting Calcutta with Durgapur, Burdwan and Asansol, the endless grey monotony of the road would stare back at you, the countryside a tedious blur.

Come 2009, a highway hub, projected as the nation’s first, will come up in Ranigunj, where you’ll get everything one can think of — a dhaba, motel, mall, a bank, a health centre and much more.

Welcome to Ranigunj Square, being developed by Bengal Shristi Infrastructure Development Ltd. Spread over 24 acres at Mangalpur, about 1km from the Ranigunj Punjabi More, the project will come up in phases over the next one-and-a-half years.

Hemant Kanoria, managing director of Bengal Shristi, said the company would invest Rs 150 crore for the facilities.

“The hub will cater to three sets of people — travellers, local people looking for entertainment and traders,” Kanoria said.

Local authorities believe that the Square would decongest the urban sprawl and help in the revival of towns close by.

After all, the steel and mining industries are staging a big comeback in the area in a boost for the local economy.

For travellers who hate long-distance byroad journeys, Ranigunj Square would mean freedom from boredom and stiff joints.

Once the Square comes up, they can park their vehicle, and hop across for a quick, safe bite and freshen up for the road ahead. Or even turn in for the night to start afresh next morning.

According to the plan, the retail arena, food court and the multiplex — aimed at both local residents and those on the move — will come up in the front. The wholesale market, the warehouse and the truck terminal will be developed in the Square’s backyard.

A large area has been set aside for the wholesale bazaar. The layout of the market has been planned in a way that segregates sections for different classes of products.

As the wholesale market will be located near the back entrance, trucks can load and unload goods fast. Warehouses and a weighbridge within the truck terminal will be an added facility.

Bengal Shristi said it was holding talks with national wholesale and retail chains which would run the wholesale and the retail market.

The developer has plans to build a hypermarket keeping in mind the changing needs of local customers, believed to have buying power second only to Calcutta shoppers in the state.

The high point of Ranigunj Square will be a two-storey auto mall. Kanoria claimed that it would be the first such in the country.

Heavy commercial vehicles like trucks and mini trucks would be sold on the ground floor, passenger vehicles would be sold on the first floor and two-wheelers from the second floor.

A service station for vehicles has been planned at the Square’s back. This would come in handy for vehicle buyers as well as travellers.

“We hope the auto-mall will be ready by the end of this year,” Kanoria said.

The highway hub is yet to come up, but the developers are already planning big.

As the Square has the potential of becoming a commercial hub that would cater to the coal and steel belt of Bengal and adjoining Jharkhand districts, the developers are planning to woo banks and financial institutions so that they set up shop there.