BackAfter DLF’s exit, Bidadi project put back on track
After DLF’s exit, Bidadi project put back on track
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Bangalore: Over a year after DLF Ltd and its Dubai-based partner Limitless Llc exited the multi-crore Bidadi Township project in Karnataka, around 30km from Bangalore, the state government said it has put the project back on track.
Calling it an “investor’s paradise", the government is wooing potential investors assuring them that it has reserved the 9,178 acres required for the project to quicken the process.
Land acquisition delays by the government and a liquidity crunch were the main reasons why DLF, which had formed a 50:50 joint venture with Limitless, pulled out of the project last year, seeking a refund of Rs400 crore, which it paid upfront to the Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA).
The project, which will be developed in phases, requires a total investment of Rs60,000 crore.
Taking advantage of the two-day Global Investors’ Meet (GIM), a fresh brochure has been issued for the project asking interested bidders to submit the “request for qualification" document by 30 August. The Karnataka investor meet ended on Friday.
“Developers are again getting back to large-sized projects because the demand curve has improved. But this time, they will be more cautious towards projects with long gestation periods," said Ramnath S., director (research), IDFC-SSKI Securities Ltd, a brokerage.
“It took time to initiate the process because the government deliberated on whether the project was feasible at all due to weak investor sentiment last year. But we are more confident now of investor sentiment," a senior government official told Mint on Friday. “We will develop it through a public-private partnership model," said the official, who didn’t want to be named.
However, trouble over land acquisition issues in the project can’t be ruled out, the official said. Of the land that the project needs, 6,336 acres is privately held, mostly belonging to farmers, 2,198 acres belong to the government and the rest consists of water bodies.
The government will follow a two-step process in selecting the developer for the project including a pre-qualification or pre-bid round and then a final qualification round.
The Bidadi project is part of the government’s larger plan to create five large clusters of such townships, which will have residential and commercial developments. The developer will be responsible for infrastructure development, construction, marketing, operations and maintenance of the project.
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