BHUBANESWAR: With a standard bidding document for selection of contractor for the proposed low-cost housing scheme at Niladri Vihar ready, the State Government has asked the Finance Department to examine the proposal of Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA).
A high-level meeting chaired by Chief Secretary GC Pati discussed the proposed affordable housing scheme of BDA at Niladri Vihar here on Saturday. The scheme will be the first of its kind project in the State in which precast construction technology will be used.
The bidding document has been prepared by a technical committee headed by Engineer-in-Chief of Works Department. The model tender document has been approved by BDA recently, BDA vice-chairman Krishan Kumar told the meeting.
BDA proposed to construct 2,880 units of affordable houses in public private partnership (PPP) mode. The General Administration Department had allotted 20 acres of land to BDA at Sampur for construction of low-cost houses for economically weaker sections.
Now, BDA has decided to shift the project to another site near Kanyashrama at Niladri Vihar where 20.83 acres of land is available.
The project, estimated to cost Rs 153.51 crore, includes a grant of Rs 58.28 crore from the Odisha Urban Infrastructure Development Fund (OUIDF).
Tender will be floated for the project after the model tender document is approved by the Government. The project is scheduled to be completed within nine months from the date of tender finalisation and selection of contractor, official sources said.
The Chief Secretary has asked the Finance Department to examine the financial details and finalise the bid document within a week. BDA has been directed to expedite the process for grounding the housing project.
Pati has also advised Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) to adopt a technology for reducing the time and cost for construction of housing projects.
The low-cost housing project is part of the State Government’s decision to construct 15,000 affordable houses for economically weaker sections (EWS), low income group (LIG), low-medium income group (LMIG) and medium income group (MIG).
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had asked the BDA and Odisha State Housing Board (OSHB) to complete construction of 15,000 housing units in the city by end of this year for EWS and LIG.