60 years after it shut, money is raining on Kolkata Old Mint

If old is gold, the govemment is putting its money on the 180-year-old "silver mint". Sixty years after it shut operations and was reduced to a storehouse, the famous Old Mint Complex on Strand Road, Kolkata, is set for a Rs 148-crore makeover.

The Finance Ministry has decided to convert one of the country's oldest mints, spread over 12.1 acres in a prime Kolkata locality, into a museum-cum-convention and hotel centre.

Built in 1824 by the British, the mint complex, which resembles the Temple of Minerva in Athens, was closed down in 1947-48 and has since mostly been used to store old machinery as well as served as quarters for the CRPE.

Under the public-private partnership model approved for facelift of this "prime heritage structure", the Centre will give a grant or viability gap funding amounting to 26 per cent of the project cost. In other words, the Union Finance Ministry will provide up to Rs 28 crore to make the package attractive for developers.

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