Kolkata/New Town
New Town (নিউটাউন Niuṭaun), also called Rajarhat (রাজারহাট Rājārhāṭ), is one of the newest satellite towns of Kolkata. A stark contrast to the "Old Town" of narrow alleys, New Town is known for business clusters like Bengal Silicon Valley (BSV) and FinTech Hub, along with the presence of TCS, Infosys, Unitech and other companies. Eco Park, one of the largest urban spaces in India, is the main tourist attraction of this district, attracting people from West Bengal and even beyond.
New Town was developed in the late 1990s and is rapidly growing under the leadership of the Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO). The Indian government declared New Town a "Solar City" and later a "Smart Green City". As one of the newest parts of the bustling metropolis, New Town will take you to an ultra-modern world, compared to the "Old Town" of North Kolkata.
A planned community, New Town is surrounded by Bidhannagar and the Northern Suburbs at the west, the East Kolkata Wetlands at the south, and the vast rural areas of North and South 24 Parganas at north and east respectively.
The town is divided into three action areas: I, II and III. Action Area I (AA I) is the main area of the town, and it has various houses, housing complexes, shopping malls, and parks. The parks include children's parks, seniors' parks (like Swapna Bhor), and also parks themed on famous Bengali films (like Apur Sansar, Sonar Kella). The eastern end of AA I is home to various tech complexes.
Action Area II (AA II) is surrounded by several tech complexes, with tech parks like Ecospace, FinTech Hub, Synthesis and Bengal Silicon Valley. It also has housing complexes at the northern end, between Mangaldeep and Owl junctions. Eco Park is in AA II.
Action Area III (AA III) is the least-developed area, with a mix of both urban and rural areas. It is home to massive housing complexes like Uniworld City and Shapoorji Pallonji's Sukhobrishti. The eastern end has a handful but notable tech complexes of Infosys and ITC Limited.
Get in
By bus
- 🌍 New Town Bus Stand (AH Block, Action Area I)
By car
New Town is served by certain arterial roads to and from the township. Major Arterial Road (MAR) starts from Salt Lake Sector V, then turns left at Narkelbagan More crossing, turns left again at Akankha More and finally meets at VIP Road (Kazi Nazrul Islam Sarani) near Kolkata Airport. The road serves the Action Areas I and II.
There are two other roads that begin from Narkelbagan More. The one next to Rabindra Tirtha (not the one next to HIDCO Bhaban) runs across Action Area III, while the one opposite Rabindra Tirtha runs across the southern parts of Action Area I before meeting at a narrower 2-lane road next to East Kolkata Wetlands.
Get around
New Town has a unique transport infrastructure that is rare in the rest of Kolkata or even West Bengal.
By electric car
New Town has some charging stations for electric cars, which are very useful for the electric vehicles in West Bengal as the rest of the state has a lack of charging stations.
By bicycle
It has some bike paths along footpaths, and they are usually coloured in green. Bicycles are mainly useful for short trips, and for longer trips you have to opt for a bus or car.
See
- 🌍 Biswa Bangla Gate (বিশ্ব বাংলা গেট Biśba Bāṃlā Geṭ), MAR, Narkelbagan, Action Area I (Rabindra Tirtha
). An arch monument in New Town and one of the most iconic structures in Greater Kolkata. "Biswa Bangla" literally means "World Bengal". The structure consists of a single ring supported by two parabolic arches from four sides of the Narkelbagan intersection. The ring houses a restaurant and a visitors' gallery, which are surrounded by glass. There are two staircases and an elevator to reach the gallery. Decorative paintings of luminaries have been drawn on the wall inside the ring with the outer side having a glass façade to have a view of the township. 
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- 🌍 Harinalaya (হরিণালয় Hariṇālaẏ) (opposite Eco Park Gates 5 and 6, parking space for four-wheelers at ₹50). 10AM—6PM (closed at sunsets in winter). A 12.5 acres (5.1 hectares) mini zoo developed by HIDCO, and despite being named after deers (হরিণ hariṇ), the zoo contains other animals as well. At the entrance, there's an aviary at the left and rides at the right. Rides include slides, mini jungle gyms, and swings. There's a waterbody for two large crocodiles and two hippos enclosed with fence. Other than real animals, there are images and concrete sculptures of birds. Within the zoo contains Nature's Cafe, which offers Chinese and Indian dishes along with non-alcoholic drinks. The zoo is a no-plastic zone, though you can picnic within the zoo premises. ₹50 for people above 5, both cash and UPI accepted.
- 🌍 Kadampukur. A bird-watching area.
- 🌍 Rabindra Tirtha (রবীন্দ্র তীর্থ Rabīndra Tīrtha), MAR, Narkelbagan, Action Area I (Rabindra Tirtha ). noon–7PM. A cultural centre dedicated to the poet and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. It houses an exhibition of Tagore’s paintings, archives, a research centre, an auditorium and dormitories for students opting to conduct their research on Tagore. Various arts festivals are arranged here, including performances. ₹20.
Museums and art galleries
- Arts Acre.
- 🌍 Fanattic Sports Museum (FSM), Ecospace Business Park, Action Area II (Ecospace
). 11AM–7PM (closed on M). A sports museum dedicated to various types of sports and the first of its kind in West Bengal. ₹10. - 🌍 Kolkata Museum of Modern Art (KMOMA). A modern art museum.
- 🌍 Mother's Wax Museum, Synthesis Business Park, MAR, Action Area II (Prakriti Tirtha ), ☏ +91 33 2324 7243. Noon-3:30PM. The Mother's Wax Museum consists of nine sections containing 18 to 19 wax models of eminent personalities. It contains models of Maradona, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Manna Dey, Rabindranath Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi, etc. 150.
- 🌍 , DJ Block, Narkelbagan, Action Area I (New Town Police Station ). A military aviation museum built by the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA). Like the TU-142 Aircraft Museum in Visakhapatnam, this one also exhibits a Tupolev Tu-142 of Indian Navy, along with the models of various aircraft designs with diagrams and descriptions for each aircraft part. There is also a small children's park and a coffee shop.
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MAR, Action Area II (bus stops: Eco Park, Prakriti Tirtha), ☏ +91 33 2706 4010. Noon–4:30PM (closed M). ₹20.
Eco Park (ইকো পার্ক Iko Pārk) or Prakriti Tirtha (প্রকৃতি তীর্থ Prakr̥ti Tīrtha) is a 480-acre landscaped park surrounding a water body of about 100–120 acres (40–49 hectares). The green space is so vast and diverse that it cannot be visited in a short trip easily, and many new attractions are coming here at a rapid pace. There are eight gates to access the park. Parking facilities available at Gate 1 and Gate 4. Activities include paddleboats, rowboats, duo cycles, birdwatching, etc. You can also ride in trackless "toy trains" to enjoy the park. The attractions within the park include:
- 🌍 Bengal Village (বাংলার গ্রাম Bāṁlār Grām). An exhibition containing models depicting the daily life of rural Bengal.
- 🌍 Butterfly Garden. It consists of a large dome to enclose a plant habitat consisting of different species of flowering annuals and perennials that support a large range of butterflies organised around a circular body of water.
- 🌍 Eco Children's Park.
- 🌍 Eco Island.
- 🌍 Eiffel Tower.
- 🌍 Ghum railway station. A dummy railway station with a toy train of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. You can get into the train to get a feeling of the Darjeeling Hills. It costs ₹10 per head for photoshoot inside the train.
- 🌍 Heliconia Garden.
- 🌍 Herbal Garden.
- 🌍 Japanese Forest. 12:30PM-8:30PM. A mini-Japan in Kolkata, reflecting the architecture and philosophy of traditional Japanese gardens. It consists of vermillion torii gates, bonsai groves, wisteria-laced walkways, koi ponds, stone lanterns, and a monastery with a pagoda.
- 🌍 Mask Garden. An open-air collection of masks from various parts of the world, especially from various states of India, especially from West Bengal.
- 🌍 Meadow Garden.
- 🌍 Pakhibitan.
- 🌍 Promenade. The spine of Eco Park is a paved pathway lined with coconut trees. It is designed to enjoy the waterbody. There's a massive Solar Dome and a replica of the Eiffel Tower along the promenade.
- 🌍 Rabi Aranya.
- 🌍 Rose Garden. A long walking path with varieties of roses at both sides.
- 🌍 Sculpture Garden.
- 🌍 Solar Dome. A dome-shaped structure that houses a museum about solar energy and its use in daily life. It has a guided tour with humanoid robots. The dome also houses a planetarium, marine aquarium, and an observation deck. It also has information stands on other renewable energies and also global warming, rising sea levels, and climate change. The structure itself generates a lot of solar power for the New Town area.
- 🌍 Seven Wonders. It consists of replicas of seven world-famous monuments: the Pyramids of Giza, Christ the Redeemer, Great Wall of China, Taj Mahal, Petra, Colosseum and Moai Statues. Accessible from Gate 4.
- 🌍 Tropical Tree Garden. Contains a piece of the tropical forest of Bengal.
Do
- 🌍 Aquatica, Kochpukur (off Street 299; Thakdari ), ☏ +91 33 3200 7947, +91 93315 55220. 10AM–6PM daily. This theme water park offers visitors a cool respite from the heat and grime of city life. Aquatica has a number of rides including tremendously exciting ones like the Black Hole, the Wave Pool, Niagara Falls, surf racer, Tornado and the Aqua Dance Floor. Regular parties and fashion shows are hosted here, especially in the winter. Wide varieties of cocktails are available, as well as mocktails for sobers. M-F: ₹500 for adults, ₹350 for children; Sa-Su: ₹600 for adults, ₹400 for children.
- 🌍 Eco Park Amphitheatre, Eco Park.
- 🌍 Eco Urban Village, Street 645, Action Area II. A large picnic spot based around a lake, similar to Eco Park. Albeit smaller than Eco Park, the area is quieter and can provide a brief escape to the otherwise city life. Cottage rentals are available from ₹1,000. There's a tribal museum with the ticket price of ₹10 only. Red munia birds are common here, and many migrant birds come here around the lake during winter.
- 🌍 Biswa Bangla Convention Centre, Action Area I.
- 🌍 Mela Ground (Fairground).
- 🌍 Nazrul Tirtha (নজরুল তীর্থ Najrul Tīrtha), Action Area I (Nazrul Tirtha ). A cultural and educational centre dedicated to the poet Kazi Nazrul Islam. The cultural centre is functioning partly as a cinema hall and open air theatre for exhibitions and performances.
- 🌍 New Town Square. Hosts Durga Puja and trade fairs.
- 🌍 Ozone Convention Centre.
- 🌍 Taal Kutir, Eco Park.
Buy
- 🌍 Axis Mall, CF Block, Action Area-IC, ☏ +91 33 32006827. Shopping mall, restaurants, Bioscope multiplex with four screens. Restaurants include Aaheli (4F), Addiction (4F), Café Coffee Day (2F), Calcutta Retro (5F), Mehak-e-Punjab (4F). Keshariya Junction is a rail-themed multi-cuisine restaurant inside a replica of an LHB coach.
- 🌍 Biswa Bangla Haat (বিশ্ব বাংলা হাট Biśba Bāṁlā Hāṭ), Eco Park (Gate 5).
- 🌍 City Centre II, Action Area-IID. There's Inox at third floor. Restaurants include KFC (GF, Block C), McDonald's (GF, Block A), Pizza Hut (GF, Block C), Gamma's World Cuisine (2F), Massekah (2F, Block B), The Orient (GF) and Zion Lounge (GF).
- 🌍 DLF Galleria.
- 🌍 Down Town Mall, Uniworld City, Action Area-III.
- 🌍 HomeTown (Central Mall), BG Block, ☏ +91 90 07 862472.
- 🌍 Misti Hub (মিষ্টি হাব Miṣṭi Hāb) (next to Gate 3, Misti Hub ).
- Sonajhuri Hat, MAR, Action Area I (somewhere beneath the Axis Mall Flyover). F–Su 5–8PM. Based on the famous Sonajhuri Hat in Santiniketan. No entry price.
Eat and drink
- 🌍 Club De Golf, Gate 6, Eco Park (beside golf arena), ☏ +91 98318 26779. 7AM-11PM.
Sleep
| This guide uses the following price ranges for a standard double room: | |
| Budget | Under ₹2,000 |
| Mid-range | ₹2,000–5,000 |
| Splurge | Over ₹5,000 |
Budget
- 🌍 FabHotel Shivangan, VIP Rd, Baguiati, ☏ +91 33 2576 2711. ₹1,900-2,800.
Mid-range
- 🌍 The Fern Residency, 204, MAR, Rajarhat, ☏ +91 70444 77444 (mobile). Check-in: 2PM, check-out: noon. ₹3,000-4,000.
- 🌍 Hotel O2 Oxygen, 641, VIP Rd, Kaikhali, ☏ +91 33 2525 0078, +91 33 2525 0113, +91 98364 75753 (mobile). Check-in: 1PM, check-out: noon. ₹3,460-5,600.
- 🌍 Orbit Hotel, RB 29, VIP Rd, Raghunathpur, ☏ +91 85840 14256 (mobile). Check-in: noon, check-out: 11AM.
- 🌍 Pipal Tree Hotel, AS/464, Major Arterial Road (South-East), Hatiara, ☏ +91 33 3060 6060. Check-in: 2PM, check-out: noon.
Splurge
- 🌍 Fairfield by Marriott Kolkata, CB Block, Action Area IC, ☏ +91 33 6666 4444. Check-in: 3PM, check-out: noon. ₹7,840.
- 🌍 Holiday Inn Kolkata Airport, ☏ +91 33 6699 6699. Check-in: 8AM, check-out: noon. ₹5,270.
- 🌍 Howard Johnson by Wyndham Kolkata, Chinar Park, ☏ +91 33 6655 7000. Check-in: 2PM, check-out: noon. ₹5,600.
- 🌍 Lemon Tree Premier New Town Kolkata, BG 9, Action Area 1B, ☏ +91 33 6813 9900. Check-in: 2PM, check-out: noon. ₹7,460-8,410.
- 🌍 Novotel Kolkata Hotel and Residences, CF 11, Action Area IC, ☏ +91 33 4032 3333, +91 33 4032 3334. Check-in: 2PM, check-out: noon. ₹9,670-12,390.
- 🌍 Pride Plaza Hotel Kolkata, BG Block, Action Area I, ☏ +91 33 40259999. Check-in: 2PM, check-out: noon. ₹5,600–₹6,800.
- 🌍 Swissotel, City Centre, Action Area-IID, ☏ +91 33 6626 6666, kolkata@swissotel.com.
- 🌍 Taj Taal Kutir, Eco Park.
- 🌍 Vedic Village Spa Resort.
- 🌍 The Westin Kolkata Rajarhat, MAR (South-East), Action Area-II (opposite Eco Park), ☏ +91 33 4037 1234. Check-in: 2PM, check-out: noon. ₹7,670-9,970.
Connect
The 10.5 km (6.5 mi) area from Kolkata Airport to Salt Lake Sector V is a free Wi-Fi zone.
Cope
Fire stations
- 🌍 New Town Fire Station.
Police stations
- 🌍 Baguiati Police Station, ☏ +91 91478 89500.
- 🌍 Eco Park Police Station.
- 🌍 Narayanpur Police Station.
- 🌍 New Town Police Station, New Town Rd, DJ Block, Action Area I, ☏ +91 33 2324 6077.
- 🌍 Rajarhat Police Station, ☏ +91 33 2573 3289.
- 🌍 Technocity Police Station, ☏ +91 33 2962 3600.