The state government is planning to build two new satellite townships near Chandernagore and Barrackpore, on the northern fringes of the city. While chief minister Mamata Banerjee dreams of turning Kolkata into London, state urban development minister Firhad Hakim claims that the new projects will be along similar lines to those found in such countries as Malaysia and Singapore.

“We’ve identified land for the two new townships. While one will come up near Barrackpore, in North 24-Parganas, the other is being planned near Chandernagore, in Hooghly,” Hakim said on Tuesday.

The urban development department was, however, keeping the exact locations of the township projects under wraps at present, since revealing them would result in land prices shooting up, the minister added.

Hakim was speaking at a press conference to announce the programme schedule of ‘Bengal Builds’, a three-day conclave on urban development and growth. The conclave will begin on November 29 and is being organised by the state government and the West Bengal chapter of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI).

“The plans for the township projects have been approved by the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA). We’re just waiting for the state government’s approval, after which the work will begin,” Vivek Bharadwaj, CEO of the KMDA, told HT.