Indian Express 22.11.2010
Township project: Only two firms turn up with proposals
Lalmani Verma Tags : development, DLF Sunil Mantri Reality Limited, Eldeco, Shristi Subhash Ratna Posted: Mon Nov 22 2010, 07:04 hrs
Lucknow: The state government’s efforts to attract private investment in the field of urban development has received a jolt — among the five firms qualified to develop townships in Uttar Pradesh, only two turned up with their proposals in the second phase of bidding. The other three firms did not show interest in project.In the first phase of bidding in April, five firms had qualified on technical standards to develop townships. These were — DLF, Sunil Mantri Reality Limited, Eldeco, Shristi Subhash Ratna and Super Tech. While DLF qualified to develop a township in Lucknow, Sunil Mantri Reality Limited was to develop a township in Gautam Buddha Nagar, Eldeco and Shristi Subhash Ratna in Kanpur and Super Tech in an area near Meerut.
In the second phase of bidding, Awas Bandhu — the project’s nodal agency — had repeatedly extended the deadline for submission of the Request for Proposal (RFP). But the state government received RFPs from only two firms — Sunil Mantri Reality Limited and Super Tech.
“Reminders were sent to the other three firms but they did not show interest,” said an official. Housing and Urban Planning Department Principal Secretary Ravindra Singh was not available for comment.
According to the new township policy, the minimum area of land needed to develop a township should be 1,000 acre or above. In the RFP, qualified developers had to submit details like area and location of land, rate of compensation against land acquisition, cost of project, services to be provided inside the township and the premium that the developer will pay to the government.
“Sunil Mantri Reality Limited is yet to furnish certain information about the land. It has been asked to furnish the details by November-end, following which, the financial bids of both the firms will be evaluated,” said an official.
In the financial bid, the government will check the “premium amount” that the developer will quote to pay. “If the firms qualify in financial bidding, they will be allowed to develop townships. A final decision will be taken in December,” the official added.
In June last year, the state government had decided to develop new townships with the help of private developers. To attract developers, it had highlighted the project in “Invest UP” meet held in Mumbai in October 2009. It had even revised its township policy in January to woo developers. It removed the restriction of setting up new townships within 3 km of the already approved ones for 10 years.
The maximum permissible number of companies in a consortium that can apply for projects was raised from five to seven. To make the project attractive, the government had also allowed the developer to use 27.5 per cent area for any purpose, as against 15 per cent allowed earlier.
