Odisha seeks Rs 20 cr Centre's grant for convention centre

Convention centre coming up as a part of World Trade Centre proposed in city

The Odisha government has sought Central grant of Rs 20 crore under Assistance to States for Infrastructure Development of Exports (ASIDE) scheme for the convention centre in Bhubaneswar.

The convention centre is coming up as a part of the World Trade Centre (WTC) proposed in the city.

"We plan to start the EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contractor selection process upon finalisation of designs and drawings. Construction is envisaged to commence by September 2014 and is expected to be completed in 36 months timeline. It is estimated that expenses by the end of March 2015 would be approximately Rs 50 crore. We therefore request you to provide at least Rs 20 crore grant from department of commerce to Idco under central component of ASIDE for 2014-15", Vishal Dev, chairman and managing director of Idco wrote to J S Deepak, additional secretary, department of commerce, Government of India.

The project cost of the convention centre only is estimated at Rs 250 crore. Dev has urged the Centre to provide financial assistance of Rs 100 crore to Idco under the central component of ASIDE scheme which could be considered as grant or treated as equity contribution from Government of India.

The convention centre project is proposed to be developed through a mixed funding model wherein investment would be funded through budgetary sources and the PPP (public private partnership) partner is expected to finance the hotel facility and operations & maintenance (O&M) of the entire project.

Idco is in the process of preparing the business model and a suitable transaction structure for inducting the PPP partner for the project. Since the project involves funding from different sources, Idco is mulling to set up a special purpose vehicle (SPV).

The convention centre, a part of the WTC, will be set up on an area of 25 acres of land identified behind the Fortune Towers that houses many corporate offices in the city.

Mumbai-based M Visvesvaraya Industrial Research & Development Centre (MVIRDC) has been selected as a co-promoter for developing the WTC in collaboration with Idco. Both MVIRDC and Idco are to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU), a draft of which is ready. MVIRDC was selected on the ground that it has the required license for establishment of a WTC in Bhubaneswar.