The West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation, commonly known by its acronym HIDCO, is a state-owned housing and urban infrastructure corporation operating in the Indian state of West Bengal. It functions under the Government of West Bengal and is primarily associated with the planning and development of New Town, Kolkata, a planned township on the eastern fringes of the Kolkata metropolitan area.
| Name | West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation |
|---|---|
| Common name | HIDCO |
| Type | State government corporation |
| Sector | Housing and urban infrastructure |
| Jurisdiction | West Bengal, India |
| Owner | Government of West Bengal |
| Notable project | New Town, Kolkata |
HIDCO was constituted by the Government of West Bengal as a special-purpose corporation to undertake the acquisition, planning and development of land for large-scale housing and infrastructure projects. Its formation reflected a policy of using a dedicated state agency, rather than the existing municipal bodies alone, to execute integrated township development on the periphery of Kolkata.
The corporation's principal responsibilities include:
The most prominent project executed by HIDCO is the development of New Town, a planned township in the North 24 Parganas district adjacent to Salt Lake City and the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport. The township was conceived to accommodate residential, commercial, institutional and information-technology uses, and includes sectoral development under Action Areas designated by HIDCO. The corporation has been the principal land-development authority for the township, while civic administration is carried out by the New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA).
HIDCO is significant in the urban history of West Bengal as the agency through which the state attempted a large, planned eastward expansion of the Kolkata urban region. Through New Town, the corporation has been involved in shaping policies on smart-city features, electric mobility, green building norms and integrated transport corridors in eastern Kolkata.