BELAGAVI: The government has initiated talks with a prominent hotelier in the city for construction of a 100-room hotel on a joint venture model. The hotel would also serve as Legislators’ House during the sessions.
In the absence of guest houses to accommodate 299 legislators from both Houses, politicians are forced to stay in budget and high-end hotels in Hubballi and Belagavi cities during the winter sessions. Secretariat staff and media persons are also accommodated in hotels, which has catapulted the session expenses to more than Rs 16 crore.
The government had spent Rs 14 crore on conducting the session in 2014 and Rs 11 crore in 2013-14. The previous government had also planned to construct a Legislators’ House near Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, but many were sceptical that it would turn into another white elephant. The maintenance of SVS is already proving to be a costly affair.
As per state government’s plan, the Legislators’ House will have individual accommodation of 600 sqft each and have a 12-acre garden. Sources said that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and PWD Minister H C Mahadevappa recently held informal talks with the leading hotelier to look into joint venture opportunities.
When contacted, hotelier Vittal S Hegde said he has offered to give one-acre land on the National Highway and will also invest 20 percent of the cost project to match 80 percent of government investment. “I have offered to maintain it for 20 years and give the structure to legislators during sessions, but on the condition that the government would transfer ownership of the property after the 20-year lease period,” he said.
Speaker Koliwad said the government is committed to constructing a Legislators’ House. It is an old proposal and 100 rooms will be built in the first phase.