The plot was earmarked for Prosenjit’s film city. The actor said he had to abandon the project as he had asked for a vacant plot but the government offered him one that had several brick kilns

A 300-acre plot owned by the Calcutta Municipal Corporation in Uttarpara, 15km from Calcutta, can come in handy for the state government which is desperately looking for land for industry in the vicinity of the city.

The non-arable plot, which the CMC estimates is worth Rs 100 crore, had been earmarked for a film city that actor Prosenjit had planned. But the project has been shelved.

The CMC has now decided to sell or lease out the land through open bidding but before that it would like to offer the property to the government.

“The government may want the land for industry. In that case the price will be settled through negotiation. I have already approached the chief minister,” said mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya.

The special officer (land and estate management) in the civic body, R.N. Ganguly, said the rectangular plot — flanked by the Hooghly and GT Road — was worth Rs 100 crore.

The mayor thinks the strip of land can play a key role in the Left Front government’s industrialisation drive.

“The area is well connected to Calcutta and Howrah by road and waterways. It is close to the airport and has highway links with Delhi and Mumbai,” the mayor said. “There is a historical connection, too, as industry had once flourished on the Hooghly banks, between Garden Reach and Bansberia.”

Municipal commissioner Arnab Roy, who will inspect the plot soon, said: “I have heard that the plot needs to be levelled as private brick kiln owners have dug out earth on several spots.”

The CMC had in 2007 first decided to transfer the land to private parties on a long-term lease through open bidding. Around the same time, Prosenjit had approached chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee for 400 bighas to set up a film city. The chief minister was in favour of the actor’s proposal and wanted the film city to come up on the CMC land in Uttarpara.

“But he (Prosenjit) recently told us that he had failed to find any investor for the project,” the mayor said.

The actor, however, denied having failed to find an investor. “I had certainly found an investor.... We backed out because we had asked for a vacant plot but the government offered us a patch of land that had several brick kilns.”

The CMC plot is also being eyed by the local Uttarpara-Kotrung municipality, which wants to set up an entertainment park. Municipal chairman Pinaki Dhamali said he would approach mayor Bhattacharyya seeking the plot, or a part of it. “We have funds and are also willing to go in for a joint venture with the civic body,” said Dhamali.

The chairman said 17 brick kilns used to function from the civic land. “Their lease terms expired long ago,” said Dhamali.