Calcutta: The Calcutta Eye, the city's version of the London Eye, will be completed in two years after work starts in February, urban development minister Firhad Hakim said on Thursday.

"The CMDA has floated the tender for the Calcutta Eye project and it will be opened on December 11," Hakim told reporters at the state Assembly.

"We expect world-class developers to participate in the global tender and the project will start latest by February. It will take two years to complete this dream project."

More than six years ago, chief minister Mamata Banerjee had announced her plan to get the city's version of the UK tourist attraction built along the Hooghly.

The project on the banks of the Hooghly on the Calcutta side will have the same specifications as the London Eye, 135m high and 120m wide, minister Hakim said.

"The width of the plot along the riverside is around 40m... but we have to leave 10m on the riverside... so, we will get 30m, including the railway tracks," he said. "But it might not be sufficient."

Hakim, however, added that superior engineering skills would be deployed to ensure the specifications of the London Eye were matched.

He blamed the Centre for the delay in starting the project. "It took us two years to convince the Calcutta Port Trust... they own the land along the river," he said.

"And then there was the National Green Tribunal's order to carry out an environment impact study... finally, all the hurdles have been crossed."

The giant Ferris wheel will come up at Millennium Park. "The view of the skyline and the Hooghly will be a major attraction," the minister said.

London Eye is one of Britain's most-visited tourist spots. The giant wheel on the bank of the Thames offers a panoramic view of the city from its 32 passenger capsules, which move so slowly (26cm every second) that people can get off at the ground level without the wheel stopping.