The 42

The 42 is a skyscraper in Kolkata, in the Indian state of West Bengal. It stands on Chowringhee Road, in the middle of the city's business district, between the Tata Centre and the Jeevan Sudha building. It is a residential tower with 65 floors, and it is about 249 metres tall.

The tower was first proposed in 2008, but its construction was delayed for nearly two years. It was completed in 2019, when it was the tallest building in India. Today it is the tallest completed building in India outside Mumbai, and the 14th tallest in the whole country. The land once belonged to the Maharaja of Darbhanga. Four companies, Mani Group, Salarpuria Sattva, Alcove Realty, and Diamond Group, planned it as Kolkata's tallest home building.

Why did it face a court case?

The company ITC, which owns the nearby Fountain Court property, filed a civil suit in the Calcutta High Court. ITC said the tower would block its right to receive light and air. In August 2013 the court ruled that any steps the developers took depended on the outcome of the case. In May 2014 it ordered the developers not to build so quickly that it defeated ITC's interests.

What is next to it?

A second, neighboring tower called The 42@Middleton was planned next to it. The card for this tower describes its slender glass shaft held in a cream-colored exoskeleton grid, a frame on the outside of the building, that rises past the roof as an open crown. Its glass-and-frame look makes it easy to spot among the city's older buildings.

On the globe

The model shows a slender glass shaft held in a cream exoskeleton grid that rises past the roof as an open crown.