Executives of New Town-based companies need no longer drive to south Calcutta to entertain their clients at the fancy clubs there. Come April and New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) will roll out its own business club near Home Town. 

Like several other facilities in New Town, the idea of New Town Business Club was mooted by chief minister Mamata Banerjee on the sidelines of an earlier edition of Bengal Global Business Summit. 

“She had asked us to build such a club as soon as possible,” says CEO of NKDA Debashsis Sen. New Town’s Eco Space complex and Axis Mall has had a club for a few years now but this one, Sen insists, will be focussed towards the needs of corporate houses. “The club will have smart infrastructure to promote a business-friendly environment in New Town. Residents too will benefit from the facilities,” says Sen. 

The club will come up in a three-acre plot in New Town’s AE Block, near Home Town. The swimming pools and tennis courts will open by April and other facilities will open thereafter. Forms will start being distributed from February at the club and the NKDA office on the Major Arterial Road near the Sector V to New Town box bridge.  

The Telegraph Salt Lake visited the campus earlier this week and found landscaped gardens already in place and lined with palm trees and seasonal flowers. There is ample open space for car parking too. Here are some other facilities on the anvil. 

Auditorium 

There would be one huge auditorium and two smaller conference rooms waiting to be used. The big one would measure around 45-ft x 30-ft and be on the ground floor of the club’s main building. A raised dais would stand on one end of the hall. 

The two smaller conference rooms would be on the first floor of the main building. All the halls would be equipped with state-of-the-art sound and LCD projection systems and the lights would be of the energy-saving LED variety. 

Swimming pools

Three swimming pools are coming up in the club, one each for men, women and children. 

“The women’s section is being kept separate as some women prefer to swim in a secluded pool. We shall take a call on this matter after the pool opens,” says Sen. 

The men’s pool is 25m long and is six-laned. It is 4.5-ft deep at the shallow end and 6.5-ft deep at the deep end. 
Just a year back, the pool in Bidhannagar Municipal Sports Complex had got off to a disastrous start with many swimmers complaining of skin rashes and eye allergies from dirty water. So NKDA is taking no chances. 

The men’s pool has been allotted a dedicated filtration unit of its own with three iron filters and four pumps to keep the water circulating and prevent it from getting stagnant. It also has a balancing tank where chlorine would be added from time to time. And NKDA has obtained specialised kits to check the Ph levels of the water.

The men’s pool is separated from the other two by a landscaped garden and three buildings that house the changing rooms, showers and toilet complex.

The women and children’s (learners’) pools are serviced by another filtration plant that houses two iron filters, three pumps and a balance tank. These pools do not have lanes and the women’s one has a maximum depth of 5.5-ft.
“We are aiming to have the best swimming pool in town,” said Sen, adding that NKDA has already appointed a supervisor who works full-time to look after the facilities.

The swimming session would begin from April and the timings would be 7-9am and 4-7pm on all days except Mondays. One can avail of the swimming pool even without taking full-fledged membership. “Anyone above the age of five can enrol by paying Rs 2,000 for a 30-minute slot for the swimming season of April to September,” said Sen.

Tennis court

Though a part of the club, the single tennis court is situated in NKDA’s Bidhan Sishu Udyan adjacent to the club complex. 

The artificial turf tennis court has been built according to the guidelines of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) that governs the sport.

The court has a metal fencing around it to stop balls from flying out and chairs have been lined around the court in two rows and on the third row there are three glass-window rooms. These rooms are likely to get air-conditioned and would allow spectators to get an unobstructed view of the game while protecting them from the sun. The rooms have restrooms inside.

The tennis court would be functional by April and as a pilot project NKDA will allow only under-16-year-olds to play initially. However, if someone takes a full-fledged membership, he or she may avail of the facility.

Fees for the under-16 would be Rs 1,000 for an hour’s play thrice a week. 

Basketball court

A basketball court would come up beside the tennis court. This court too has an iron net fencing on its perimeter to prevent balls from flying out. The court is concrete and is big enough to host professional matches. NKDA has requested the state basketball association to conduct matches here.

A well-equipped gym will also come up in the club. 

Restaurant and lounge

A restaurant is coming up for members to dine at. The bar-cum-restaurant is likely to be situated on the second floor of the main building and will have a glass façade with an excellent view of the pool and the meadows within the club and beyond.

The restaurant would only be accessible to full-fledged members and their guests. A lounge would come up too for members to relax in. “The lounge would give an opportunity to the members to mingle amongst themselves,” said Sen.

Membership

Besides offering sports facilities like swimming and tennis to individuals for a fee, the club would be open to general and corporate membership. 

General membership is likely to be Rs 25,000 over a three-year period. Corporate membership would cost a company around Rs 1 lakh. The company would be able to nominate four employees as members and the validity of each membership would be five years.

Local firms are happy with the news. “This is a great initiative. We can organise meetings in the club when it opens. Since it is in New Town it will help entrepreneurs like us who don’t own very large office spaces,” said Soumyajit Das, who owns an office in the township.