An 11-storey hotel project next to Fort William that had been stalled close to completion by the army going to court against it on security grounds has been cleared by the Supreme Court to resume construction after a seven-year hiatus.
The Radisson Blu property at Hastings could be ready within the next six to seven months, albeit after a huge cost overrun for the developer, Saraf Infraprojects, sources said.
The Supreme Court ruled that the hotel cannot be deemed to be a security risk to Fort William, the headquarters of the army’s eastern command, since it stands more than 10 metres away from the perimeter of the complex.
This is the minimum gap that must be maintained with a military compound, as mentioned in the revised guidelines notified by the central government in 2016. Before the change took effect, the specified distance was 500 metres.
The Supreme Court has directed the Calcutta Municipal Corporation to issue an occupancy certificate to the developer.
The army had filed a writ petition in Calcutta High Court in 2011, by which time the project was almost 85 per cent complete. In 2015, the court dismissed the developer’s plea to save the structure on the ground that permission from the local authorities is not the only requirement when it comes to construction next to a military compound.
The developer appealed the verdict in the Supreme Court. The clearance came after the initially estimated Rs 200-crore budget soared almost three times. The payback period for a hotel property is usually two to three years.
“As of today, the project remains a Radisson Blu hotel,” Niket Saraf, director of Saraf Infraprojects, told Metro. “The hotel has the potential to generate good revenue. Its location is ideal, being in close proximity to Alipore and Park Street. It could create employment for more than 500 people.”