For the first in the country, an Underwater Tunnel Aquarium and Entertainment and Leisure Park is going to come up in Hyderabad at Budvel near the Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University in Rajendra Nagar soon.
The park will have an underwater tunnel aquarium, indoor sky diving, indoor gaming zone, musical and laser water fountain, drive-in theatre, resort and spa, water park, seal stadium, roller coaster, wax museum, 7D theatre, a dinosaur park and an underwater restaurant & bar.
The project, costing about Rs 100 crore, will be taken up in Swiss challenge method on build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis in public-private partnership (PPP). The state tourism and culture department has invited requests for proposal (RFP) from developers and consortia for taking up the project in a 30-acre land at Budvel. The department has already received a suo motu proposal from a developer in this regard.
Speaking to Express, Project Monitoring Unit escort officer Y.Satyanarana said the underwater tunnel aquarium would be the first of its kind in the country. Such aquariums exist in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia.
He said Budvel was selected for the project as it is a fast-growing township near ANGRAU and is 1 km away from the Outer Ring Road. It is at a distance of about 10 km from the Central Financial District in Nanakramguda. The last date for receipt of bids is May 25 and the bids will be opened on the same evening.
The land for the project will be provided to the developer on a lease for 33 years (including construction period). At the end of the concession period the project should be transferred to the tourism department. Apart from construction, the developer will be required to operate, manage and maintain the project as per the best practices.
One developer, Big Blue Entertainment & Leisures Pvt Ltd, has submitted a suo motu proposal to the state government for development of the project in the name of recreation, adventure, amusement and entertainment activities on a brownfield site.
The company has submitted a detailed proposal along with the details of technical and financial capabilities of the consortium members and proposed project structures for implementation. The department has invited counter proposals from interested and eligible bidders for this project. The bidder with the best counter proposal will be considered as qualifying bidder.
Satyanarayana said the tourism department has put the proposal for bidding under Swiss Challenge format to have transparent procurement and competitive price discovery in awarding the project on PPP basis. It has appointed Tanikella Integrated Consultants Pvt Ltd. (TICL) as the management consultants for undertaking the transparent bid process.
Major attractions
■ Underwater tunnel aquarium
■ Indoor sky diving
■ Indoor gaming zone
■ Musical & laser water fountain
■ Drive-in theatre
■ 7D theatre
■ Resort and spa
■ Water park
■ Dinosaur park
■ Seal stadium
■ Roller-coaster
■ Wax museum
■ Underwater restaurant & bar