News Articles
DLF bags Rs 400 cr convention contract
BY HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, MARCH 2 — DLF, a giant group in real estate and allied sector, has bagged the contract for the around Rs 400 crore international convention centre proposed at Dona Paula.
This will be the first project of its kind in Goa having a total sitting capacity of 4500, a 5-star hotel, mall, gymnasium, etc.
At a press conference, Chief Minister Pratapsing Rane said that DLF would pay the government around Rs 161 crore upfront and sign the contract on a build-own-operate basis.
It will be a Public Private Participation (PPP) project on 25 acres of land. The land is under dispute, with a petition filed by Goa University teachers saying that the government is trying to take away University land.
The government on the other hand is very firm with documents showing that the actual owner is the government. Incidentally, the High Court also asked the government to go ahead with the tendering process until further orders.
“The convention centre will be constructed in 18 months,” Chief Secretary J P Singh said.
On completion of the project, DLF will run the convention centre on a 30-year lease. After the fifth year, the firm will have to pay 5 % of the revenue to the government.
The State government’s consultants, M/s ILFS, had invited expressions of interest for setting up the convention centre for which six firms had submitted technical and financial bids. Five of them had qualified and after scrutiny, it was found that DFL offered the highest bid.
Most of the parties were consortiums tied up with hotels. Among the other bidders were MR Group from Dubai, Salgaocar-Marriott, etc.
