NMC got bidder for Budhwar Bazaar project planned in 2012
Former corporator Dayashankar Tiwari had also proposed the project in 2012 during his tenure as the chairman of the Standing Committee on Build-Operate and Transfer (BOT) model.
Nagpur: Following the proposal in the year 2012 for the construction of a ground-plus nine-story commercial complex at the site of the existing Budhwar Bazaar in the palace, Nagpur Municipal Corporation has also finally shortlisted a firm for the project in 2022.
Former corporator Dayashankar Tiwari had also proposed the project in 2012 during his tenure as the chairman of the Standing Committee on Build-Operate and Transfer (BOT) model. However, the NMC did not receive any response from private players in any way to develop the project significantly only after the tenders were invited.
In the year 2019, the project department of the civic body estimated the cost at around Rs 99.79 crore. But earlier this year, it also revised the estimated cost. And Nagpur Municipal Corporation also concluded that if they were to build the premises themselves, then only about Rs 150 crore would be required for this. Along with this, many disputes will also have to be settled.
With no response at all for executing the project on a build-operate and transfer basis, Nagpur Municipal Corporation also changed its plan. And it has also been decided to make it on the lines of Orange City Mall. “Right now the civic body is planning to develop the shopping complex on the basis of design, build, finance, operate and sell,” an official of the NMC’s projects department also said.
The existing shopkeepers were demanding to set up roadside shops on the new premises
Sources have also said that even then in the first tender call, there was no response from any developer in any way. Recently, one firm had been shortlisted during the second call as well, the official said.
Although a Bhopal-based firm has been shortlisted in the recently closed online bidding for the project, Nagpur Municipal Corporation officials also said that technical verification of documents is pending, which will be done very soon.
“If the firm is finalized, then it will take another three years to complete the project,” the official added.
The building will be built on 24,967 square meters of land. In the first phase, Nagpur Municipal Corporation will rehabilitate the existing 332 shopkeepers in the market. The ground floor will have platforms for vegetable vendors, while the other floors will have shops, multiplexes, and a hospital said the officer.
However, sources also said that similar to the protest by the owners of the shops below the railway station flyover, the NMC may face a lot of challenges in the Wednesday market as well. The existing shopkeepers were also demanding to set up roadside shops in the new premises. In this case, any impasse in any way can further delay the project as the aggrieved parties can approach the court.
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