The mall under-construction in Shahid Nagar area. The commercial complex will house the city’s first Inox multiplex. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Feb. 24: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation and Bhawani Constructions have entered into a joint venture to build an upcoming commercial complex in Shahid Nagar.

The complex, which will house the first Inox multiplex of the city, will be built using an innovative technology used in construction of bridges to avoid pillars in the building.

“The commercial complex, which is under construction will be the biggest structure in public-private-partnership (PPP) mode by the BMC,” said municipal commissioner Vishal Kumar Dev.

Managing director of Bhawani Constructions, Ashok Lakhotia, said: “Not only the first multiplex is coming to Orissa through this joint venture, but the Inox authorities are hopeful about the property and have expressed their happiness regarding the construction quality. For the first time we are also using an innovative construction technology usually seen in construction of bridges. As the multiplex and other corporate areas will have no pillars in their core areas, the new technology will help us ensure a safer building concept in the state for the first time.”

The house building technology usually takes care of static weight on the structure but the weight factor over a bridge keeps changing from time to time. “The use of the state-of-art bridge technology in building of the commercial complex will ensure all safety measures. Also the structure from the Shahid Nagar Market side will have a 90-ft frontage for beautification and green cover design. The design and structural components were analysed and approved by the Bhubaneswar Development Authority and the city police for planning and traffic specifications,” said a site manager of the construction company.

The structure is likely to be completed by June or July. Till date two-third of the entire complex has been completed and seven residential apartments in BMC’s share were auctioned for Rs 4 crore, said Dev. From the housing and commercial property developed through joint venture, the BMC would have its 30 per cent share and the rest would go to the builder, he added.

The commercial block will have three blocks out of which the first block will have a major portion for BMC to be rented out or auctioned for corporate offices.

While the second block will accommodate semi-corporate and mercantile segments, the third block will have a shopping mall, retail and chain stores and multiplex including a three-screen complex by Inox that can accommodate around 1,000 viewers.

BMC sources also added that from the commercial zone, the civic body will get 1,27,224 sqft and the builder would have 1,67,725 sqft. From the parking area, BMC will get 37,316 sqft, while the builder would receive 87,083 sqft.

The joint venture would also provide a special zone for vendors evicted from the area and they will be rehabilitated. This zone which will have a separate entry and exit point.

Apart from other facilities, the complex will also have adequate parking in the basement and the terrace for the convenience of the visitors.

The BMC had already developed two market complexes in Unit II and Unit IV respectively in PPP mode. They were inaugurated on the Local Self Government Day on August 31.