Kolkata’s Rising Skyline: ‘The 42’ Leads a Measured Shift Toward Vertical Growth

The shift hasn’t been dramatic, but it’s been steady. One building in particular has completely changed how the skyline looks. The 42, Chowringhee, at around 250 metres and 65 floors, is easily the tallest building in Kolkata. Completed in 2019, it stands right in the middle of the city’s historic core, creating a sharp contrast between old colonial buildings and modern glass architecture.

Urbana Tower 2, Anandapur, at about 167 metres, was once the tallest in the city before The 42 came up. It is part of the larger Urbana complex and marks one of Kolkata’s early moves toward high-rise residential living. Urbana Tower 3, Anandapur, almost the same height as Tower 2, adds to the same cluster. Together, the Urbana towers showed that the city was ready to start building taller residential spaces.

Urbana Tower 1 and other towers in Anandapur are slightly shorter but remain important. They complete the Urbana complex and make it feel like a full high-rise neighbourhood, not just a few standalone buildings. Forum Atmosphere, EM Bypass, at over 150 metres, is one of the more noticeable newer additions. Located along the EM Bypass, it reflects how the city is slowly expanding into more planned residential areas outside the older core.

South City Towers, Jodhpur Park, at around 117 metres, were among the first big residential high-rises in Kolkata. When they were completed in 2008, they changed what apartment living in the city could look like. Hiland Park (Peak Tower), EM Bypass, one of the earlier high-rise projects, helped introduce the idea of vertical living to Kolkata back in the early 2000s.

Tata Centre, Chowringhee, at under 80 metres, may not seem very tall today. But when it was built in 1963, it was Kolkata’s first skyscraper and a big symbol of modern business at the time. Chatterjee International Centre, Chowringhee, built in the 1970s, was once the tallest office building in eastern India and represents a time when vertical growth in Kolkata was mostly about commercial spaces. Everest House, Chowringhee, another commercial tower from the late 1970s, adds to the older skyline that defined Kolkata before residential skyscrapers became more common.

The bigger picture is clear. Kolkata isn’t building as fast or as tall as cities like Mumbai or Noida, but it is changing. At the centre of that change is The 42, a building that not only stands out in height but also reflects how the city is slowly balancing its past with a more modern, vertical future.