Bidadi township is no longer in cold storage

Bidadi township is no longer in cold storage
Proposal To Revive ‘Dead’ Project Waits For Fresh Tenders
Anil Kumar M | TNN

Bangalore: After killing an infrastructure project in Ramanagaram, the government is reviving another one in Bidadi, that was virtually dead.
After DLF washed its hands of the mega Rs 60,000-crore Bidadi Integrated Township Project (BITP) on the outskirts of Bangalore, the government is set to revive it. A proposal by Bangalore Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (BMRDA) is lying before the cabinet for fresh tenders.
In a setback to infrastructure development, the government last week withdrew the 1,620-acre Institutional Area Township project, proposed at Ramanagaram.
The withdrawal of the project came at a time when the government is talking big on developing infrastructure for the proposed Global Investors’ Meet, scheduled in June 2010.
In the event of the global meltdown and tough economic environment for the real estate sector, the upcoming Request For Qualification (RFQ) document is said to be investor-friendly, and simplified to attract more global investors.
As DLF withdrew from BITP, the government refunded its deposit investment of Rs 400 crore on April 24 this year.
“Given the current downturn in the real estate sector, DLF did not want to park its funds in a project that has not moved,’’ government sources said.
ONE OF THE BIGGEST PROJECTS
The JD(S)-BJP coalition government in October 2006 approved the development of five integrated townships in Bangalore metropolitan region by BMRDA and identified BITP as the first to be developed on 10,000 acres (of these, 2,200 acres are government land), perhaps one of the biggest projects in the country, on the outskirts of Bangalore.
A documentation committee under the chairmanship of the principal secretary of the urban development department was constituted for finalization of the RFQ document. Crisil Ltd was appointed as consultants to BMRDA to prepare a bid document and bid-process management. DLF-led consortium, comprising Limitless Holdings Ltd and Limitless Hoysala Inc, was chosen to develop the project.
The consortium made a commercial offer of Rs 57.50 lakh per acre of land, in addition to land acquisition cost, rehabilitation and resettlement cost, amounting to Rs 1.25 crore, to the government kitty. The government expected Rs 3,400 crore from the whole project, which could have been usefully channelized for urban development and infrastructure projects and initiatives in the Bangalore metropolitan region.
An official order to hand over the letter of intent to DLF was issued during the last days of the Kumaraswamy government, on October 10, 2007.