The West Bengal government has invited bids from private companies to develop an eco-tourism hub at Jaddkhali, Sunderbans, about 110 KMs from Kolkata, with estimated cost of running between Rs 157-392 crore (maximum and minimum assessed cost), albeit without any tax sops. The project will be spread over 99 acres, with development spread over 46 acres.
The government will not be offering any tax sops for developing the eco tourism park, and the bidders will be initially shortlisted on the basis of highest upfront fee. Apart from the highest bid fee, the developer would also be required to pay an annual concession fee to the government in lieu of the project site, according to the terms and conditions of the bid). The annual concession fee would be one per cent of the highest upfront fee in the first year, followed by 5 per cent of the last annual concession fee paid.
The project is aimed to be developed in design, built, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) basis, with the developer possessing right to charge user fee for 32 years.
The eco park project includes setting up three resorts (high end, budget and star category), art and craft village with open theatre, helipad, parks and other amenities, according to the project information memorandum at the government of West Bengal website.
The Indian part of Sunderban consists of 106 islands, of which 54 are inhabited. Sunderbans covers 100200 sq kms, shared between India and Bangladesh. The government also plans to connect the site through water channel from Canning to Jadkhali
The government of West Bengal is working hard to attract investments, as exemplified by the recent industry meet by the West Bengal government in Mumbai. However, data on industrial development paints a bleak picture of investment scenario in the state--a sharp decline compared to 2005. West Bengal, which in 2005 accounted for more than 5 per cent of investment proposals, has been consistently sliding down the investment chart. The state accounted for 1.35 per cent of the total investment proposals to May 2013.
