Housing dept to open bids for 10 infrastructure projects

The projects include construction of super-speciality hospitals in Lucknow and Kanpur,a multi-speciality hospital in Agra,a multi-level car parking lot in Allahabad,three multi-level car parks in Ghaziabad,two underground parking lots and Transport Nagar in Varanasi. The estimated cost of these projects is Rs 1,168 crore.

To invite bidders and investors for the projects,the state government had appointed two consultants – Darashaw and Company Private Limited and Srei Infrastructure Finance Limited last year. In December 2008,the government had approved 14 projects for six cities and directed the officials concerned to invite bids for the projects.

But the Housing department had to revise the last date of submission of bids several times because the response from private developers was discouraging. “This time,we are hoping that a large number of firms will submit their bids,” Harminder Raj Singh,Principal Secretary of Housing and Urban Planning.

Singh added that several incentives have been offered to attract developers. These include moratoriums on payment of land premium in case of multi-level parking lots and Transport Nagar projects in exchange for sharing of revenue with the government.

Of the total 14 projects approved last year,four projects have been put on hold. These include the inner ring road in Agra,an auditorium in Ghaziabad,a cricket stadium-cum-sports complex and an international convention centre in Lucknow.