KOCHI: Veering off its usual practice of spending money from the public coffers for developmental activities, the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) has now resorted to the Public Private Participation model (PPP) to foot the cost of its projects. This paradigm shift came to light when the GCDA presented its 2018-19 fiscal budget on Monday.
The budget announced by GCDA chairman C N Mohanan put the income for the year at Rs 159.78 crore and expenses at Rs 119.76 crore, with a surplus of Rs 40.02 crore.A modern convention centre and exhibition hall at Manappattipparambu, a global sports city at Ambedkar Stadium, a multi-level car parking facility at Marine Drive and a ropeway/cable car connecting Marine Drive and Bolghatty Palace are the major projects announced under the PPP model. Though the GCDA proposed to implement 19 majors projects in the 2018-19 budget, most of them are like old wine in new bottles.
“At present, the GCDA is not in a position to mobilise funds to initiate prime projects as its own,” Mohanan told reporters after the budget session.“We cannot expect government fund for all prime projects. This forced us to implement the projects in PPP mode.”For the construction of modern convention centres proposed to come up at 12,500 sq m, Rs 100 crore has been allotted in the budget.“Around Rs 20 lakh will be spent for preparing a detailed project report and tender document,” said Mohanan.
In a bid to eradicate slum areas in the city, GCDA also decided to rehabilitate around 72 families residing along the Perandoor Canal. “A slum in Kochi will be adopted and the dwellers will be rehabilitated to a convenient location. A project will be initiated with the support of the state government’s LIFE Mission scheme,” the GCDA chairman said.
The sports city proposed to come up at Ambedkar Stadium will have all types of modern facilities such as a football pitch of global standards, swimming pools, skating and bowling arenas, boxing ring; table tennis, badminton, volleyball, basketball and tennis courts, health club, yoga facility, medical room, dormitory and parking area. A three-tier gallery which can accommodate 3,500 people is also part of the project.
To improve road connectivity, the budget also allocated Rs 5 crore for the completion of the Bund Road parallel to the Sahodaran Ayyappan Road.The budget also set aside Rs 25 lakh for the preliminary work on a linear park set to come up on the PPP model.