Aparna Sen and daughter Konkona Sen Sharma at Nandan. A Telegraph picture

A cinema, an open-air theatre, an air-conditioned auditorium and a cafeteria ? Salt Lake is all set to have a cultural centre, modelled on Nandan.

State urban development and municipal affairs minister Asok Bhattacharya has agreed to hand over a 26-cottah plot in DD block to Bidhannagar Municipality, which will build the complex. The hub will be named Rabindra Bhavan.

?We have given land to the municipality. Formal handover will take place shortly,? the minister said on Saturday.

?We will prepare a detailed plan for the centre soon. Though it will be modelled on Nandan, it will not be as big as Nandan,? municipal chairman Biswajiban Majumdar said. The municipality will own the centre and will arrange funds to set it up.

?Rabindra Bhavan will have an auditorium, an open-air theatre and a cinema, where good films will be screened. It will also have a library on cinema and theatre,? the chairman added.

In 2000, former civic chairman Dilip Gupta wrote to chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, asking for land to set up a cultural complex. ?The chief minister had allotted us 20 cottahs in DD block. But the shape of the plot was not suitable for a cultural centre, so we had asked for another plot in the same area,? Gupta recalled.

?We had approached the land allotment committee several times but nothing moved, though the ministers were extremely keen about the complex,? he added.

Before this year?s municipal elections, Gupta had made a fresh plea to the urban development department for a suitable plot.

Township residents have welcomed the government move. ?We have long been demanding a cultural centre, where we can watch plays and movies at an affordable price,? said Ramen Das, vice-president of the Bidhannagar (Salt Lake) Welfare Association.

?Most of the auditoriums in Salt Lake did not have proper facilities for rehearsing. Group theatre artists will benefit,? he added.

Presently, Bharatiyam, the cultural centre of the central government?s Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre, is the only prominent culture hub in the township.

According to sources, the municipality is planning to approach banks for loans.