Government unable to fund phase-II of Vyttila hub

The state government on Friday made it explicitly clear that it cannot bear the burden of implementing the second phase of Vyttila Mobility Hub.

With this, the Vyttila Mobility Hub Society (VMHS) is left with very little option, but to consider the execution of the project through a public-private partnership mode.

The financial cost to implement the second phase project is estimated to be `433 crore.  As per plan, the VMHS was to receive `298-crore loan from a consortium of banks. A meeting held last month had considered the decision. The state government was also considering giving `101-crore for the execution of the project.

But making the state government’s stand clear at the executive committee meeting of the VMHS at Thiruvananthapuram on Friday, Chief Secretary E K Bharat Bhushan said the project was too costly for the government to bear, taking its current financial status into consideration.

The Chief Secretary added that the cost of the first phase of the project had only been `15 crore, whereas the finances required for the implementation of the second phase of the hub was `433 crore. The VMHS has also been asked to downsize the project. As per the earlier plans, 110 bus bays and a maintenance centre was to be constructed.

A mega-shopping complex, food court, parking space for private buses and over 1,000 cars and 1,500 bikes and multiplex was also considered. A terminal for private buses, a waiting room for passengers and a skywalk are all in the design for the building. Even though the VMHS had recently toyed with the idea of constructing the second phase of the project using JNNURM funding, it was later dropped.

The executive committee meeting, which was held on Friday, was to give approval for the pre-qualification tenders which had been floated for the project.