The Kolkata Municipal Corporation will remove all existing hoardings and billboards on Park Street, Shakespeare Sarani and Camac Street and replace them with a new advertising system.

The three roads, arguably Calcutta’s most high-visibility commercial stretches, are home to the city’s most visited restaurants and pubs, dotted with offices and examples of the Bengal capital’s colonial heritage.

Under the new Kolkata Municipal Corporation (Advertisement Policy) Regulations, 2025, all current hoardings on buildings, apartments and pavements will be taken down once an agency wins advertisement rights through an e-auction process.

Higher revenue

While the existing advertisement space across the three streets totals 23,000 square feet, the KMC will auction rights for only 18,000 square feet – a reduction of 5,000 square feet aimed at cutting the number of hoardings.

On Thursday, the KMC announced the e-auction with a base price of ₹16 crore annually, with rates increasing every three years. This represents a significant jump from the current ₹5 crore revenue from these streets.

“We have set a base price of ₹16 crore, and we hope to achieve it,” said a KMC official. “Earlier, we used to earn ₹5 crore as revenue from selling advertisement rights on these three streets.”

Declutter bid

The move aims to declutter the three roads while overhauling how brands advertise on these premium stretches.

“We have not set any condition for the agency that will be selected through e-auction. We have made certain changes in the policy that are likely to see larger hoardings than what we see now, along with a reduction in the total number,” said an official. The selected agency will decide the size and location of hoardings, subject to KMC approval.

Safety and traffic considerations will be the primary concerns, with the advertisement policy stating it “should explicitly work to discourage visual clutter” and “should not compromise on road safety.”

New design

The new system will feature single-pole hoardings instead of the current diagonal pavement structures. The new unipole hoardings will extend over the road, allowing drivers and passengers to see advertisements through their front windscreens without turning their heads.

“We will not allow hoardings like the ones on the pavements now. This should create more space on the pavements,” said an official.

KMC officials expect the selected agency to install fewer hoardings, which would increase individual advertising rates while reducing visual clutter.

A pre-bid meeting will be held before the e-auction, which will take place 21 days from September 18.