Office of the Ranchi Regional Development Authority. Telegraph picture

Ranchi, Oct. 21: Ranchi would follow the Calcutta model for city development.

Impressed by the public-private partnership scheme under which the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) is developing new commercial projects, Ved Prakash Narayan Singh, the vice-chairman of the Ranchi Regional Development Authority (RRDA), said that efforts would be made to follow the KMDA model to ensure a rapid turnaround of Ranchi.

RRDA is the planning wing of the capital city. The plans prepared by it would be sent for the approval of the ministry of urban development.

“The KMDA idea of a PPP model for city development sounds interesting. An RRDA team would visit Calcutta and study the private-public model developed by our Calcutta counterpart in depth so that city centres, market complex, multi purpose commercial and buildings could be developed in partnership with the private sector,” the RRDA vice- chairman told The Telegraph.

The KMDA is developing three projects at Salt Lake, Eastern Metropolitan bypass and at Batanagar under a PPP model in which the authority has 49 to 50 per cent of the equity holding.

The RRDA vice-chairman pointed out that many of the commercial buildings, shopping centres and and market places owned by the authority here were quite old and in a dilapidated state. He added that most of these buildings were located at the hub of the city and could be replaced by multi-stories arcades, shopping malls and city centres.

Besides enhancing the commercial value of the plots, these new structures would lend colour to the city, he stressed.

Since the cost of conversion would be quite large, the KMDA model of a private partnership could be profitably followed. Once a detailed study by an RRDA team of KMDA model is concluded, a comprehensive proposal would be drawn up indicating the terms and conditions of partnership and areas to be developed.

The first area that we intend to develop is the RTI building at Kutchery Road which currently houses shops on the ground floor and state government offices on the two upper floors. This building is located at “Zero” point though it is now quite old and in a rather bad shape. This space could be redeveloped and replaced by a modern shopping arcade, the RRDA vice-chairman said.

Besides, he pointed out, there are other areas where existing shopping centres could also profitably be exploited under a PPP model. Developing these commercial spaces, would fill RRDA coffers which could again be re-invested in further develop the city’s infrastructure.

The decision of RRDA has given a boost to the construction industry here that has been demanding public-private partnership for a long time. Earlier, in the month of July the Greater Ranchi Development Agency had also invited proposals from the planners for the development of the capital city. It had then said that the plans envisages having a capital city of one million population.