Just one bidder for mega convention centre

Just one bidder for mega convention centre

Sharath S. Srivatsa

The project is to come up on 35 acres of land near BIA

Committee recommends Soma Enterprises, the lone bidder in the final round, for the project

Proposed convention centre is to have a seating capacity of 6,000

BANGALORE: The decision on the developer for the mega international convention centre, conceived by the Tourism Department near the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA), is likely to come up before the Cabinet shortly. A high-powered committee was set up to look into the issue of recommending the developer to execute the project. The project, estimated to attract investments close to Rs. 1,000 crore is to come up on 35 acres of land owned by the Tourism Department near the BIA.

The committee, headed by Chief Secretary C. Sudhakar Rao, it is learnt, had recommended the consortium led by Soma Enterprise, the lone bidder in the final round of bidding for the mega project, recently. “Though only one bidder participated in the final round of bidding, the committee felt that the bidding process had been transparent, and that the project could be awarded to Soma,” sources in the Tourism Department told The Hindu. It is learnt that the committee also took the opinion of the Law Department in this regard.

The consortium of Soma Enterprises, which also includes Sunway Construction and Sunway City, was the lone bidder though a total of seven consortiums were selected for the final round from a total of 12 consortiums that had initially participated. Among the leading consortiums that were in the fray initially included the consortium of Reliance Energy, Reliance Infrastructure and Bharath Hotels; consortium of Simplex Infrastructure; consortium of Emaar Properties; consortium of DLF Ltd. and Hilton International; consortium of L&T and Sterwood Hotels and Resorts; and THDC Ltd. & Indian Hotels Co. Ltd.
Facilities

The proposed convention centre is expected to provide a seating capacity of 6,000, and several star hotels as well as budget hotels are expected to come up there. The centre is also likely to have an entertainment area, an exhibition centre and a banquet hall. The project will be executed on build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis and it is proposed to be completed within three years of commencement of the project. Tourism officials said that while the project cost is estimated to be around Rs. 500 crore, it could attract investments close to Rs. 1,000 crore. “Though there were suggestions to initiate the bidding process all over again as only one developer was in the fray, it was felt that this would cause inordinate delay in the project taking off,” sources said.

The Karnataka Tourism Department launched the project in August 2006 after Bangalore, along with Delhi and Mumbai, was identified by the Union Government to set up mega convention centres.

“The project was conceived to be completed along with the international airport. However, it could not take off as the last date for submitting the request for proposal was set on February 15, 2008, following requests from bidders,” sources said.