Bhubaneswar, Sept. 30: The general administration department has decided to build 128 high-end houses for senior government officials in public-private partnership mode in the city.
The project will come up on 7.12 acres at Gadakana in Chandrasekharpur. The Bhubaneswar Development Authority, in collaboration with a private partner, will execute the project. This will be the first-of-its-kind project in the city to be executed by the authority.
"Earlier, we had developed such projects on our own. But this time, we will execute it with a private partner. We will not spend a penny on the project," said a senior official.
According to the project plan, the development authority will first invite proposals from eligible bidders and select one that will build the 128 houses on 40 per cent of the given land. At the end of the project, the remaining 60 per cent of the land will be handed over to the private party that will use it the way they want.
At present, the department, along with the development authority, has developed 11,496 different types of government quarters in various parts of the city. The proposed ones will be of medium (Type V) and higher (Type VI) quarters.
The proposal suggests that the project will have 72 Type V quarters with 2,157sqft built-up area and 56 Type VI quarters with 2,889sqft built-up area. Once developed, the quarters would be allotted through the traditional e-quarters system.
The proposed site is at Gadakana, an up and coming locality of the city with several housing and multi-specialty hospital projects lined-up by the government. It is well-connected with 100-feet-wide roads. Nearby sites include the New Government Colony, NBCC Imperia and the integrated commercial complex of Unitech Limited.
Talking to The Telegraph, real-estate developer Sangram Nayak said the proposed site was a strategic one and would have high demand in the near future. "I think this is for the first time that the development authority has decided to develop such a project in public private partnership mode. The proposal sounds alluring. I hope the authority takes up more such projects," said Nayak.
"Bhubaneswar, being the state capital, has many government establishments. It is natural that the city needs more government quarters for the employees. At present, there are around 575 quarters for top government officials, but there is need of more such houses. This is why we have taken up the project," said a department official.
Once a bidder is selected, a special-purpose vehicle will be formed under the Companies Act, 2013, to implement the project. Sources said the project was scheduled to complete within 48 months after the authority selected the developer.
