BENGALURU: The change of guard in the state has ensured that six BDA commercial complexes can now go in for the long-planned massive overhaul. No work had progressed as tenders awarded to private companies in March 2019 were put on hold by the previous government in October of the same year. The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has now issued work orders to the firms that won the contract to go ahead with the redevelopment project.
The Authority earns a paltry Rs 11.69 crore per year from all the 17 commercial complexes, despite they being located in prime areas. It could earn nearly Rs 100 crore per annum when the six modern complexes
are ready.
A notice from the Market Division of the BDA on Wednesday (December 13) gave the green signal to developers to start the work. It said, “The State gave its approval on September 26, 2023, for the work to be executed. Following this, the BDA Commissioner gave his approval on December 11 for the work order to be issued to the agencies contracted with the work.”
A senior official told TNIE on Friday that the contractors are free to begin the work now. An agency consortium of MFAR Developers Pvt Ltd, KK Builders, ADD Realty Ltd and MFAR Constructions Pvt Ltd have bagged the contract. The notice asks the consortium to start the work first in Sadashivanagar and Austin Town BDA complexes.
Tenders were called on October 19, 2017 to develop BDA complexes in HSR Layout, Austin Town, Koramangala, Vijayanagar, Sadashivanagar and RT Nagar, which house over 500 shops. The redevelopment was to be on a Public-Private Partnership model. “As per the contract, the contractor would construct modern commercial complexes and hand over the structure back to the BDA after 30 years. The rent was to be shared by the BDA and the contractor on 33:67 basis,” said the official.
The contract was awarded to the consortium as it quoted the highest percentage of revenue sharing with BDA, the notice said. “The present rental completely goes towards maintenance purposes of the complexes, making it a no-profit venture for us. BDA offices too are located in them,” the official added.
The Floor Area Ratio of 1 has been increased manifold offering much more built-up area in the complexes, facilitating multi-storeyed construction.
The contractors are expected to invest nearly Rs 700 crore in these buildings. The dilly-dallying by the government put the contractor in a spot as they had already spent considerable amounts of money evacuating and rehabilitating the occupants before the project was put on the backburner.