Guwahati News Desk: The dream project of the previous Sarbananda Sonowal-led government – the Twin Tower Trade Centre at Betkuchi here, appears to be in the cold storage.
According to sources, the Twin Tower Trade Centre project is not viable. Presently, it is not on the priority list of the present government. It has been further learnt that no investor has expressed interest in the project. This is even though the state government has tried to woo firms and contractors who would agree to invest in this project.
The MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) to take up construction of the project was signed by the NBCC (National Building Construction Corporation) and the Government of Assam on February 2, 2018. It was signed in the presence of the then Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and the then Union Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri.
After the Mou was signed, NBCC MD (Managing Director) Dr Anoop Kumar Mittal had said that work on the project would commence from July 2018 and added that the project would be completed in three years. The initial estimated cost of the project was Rs 1,950 crore. The State Government even allotted 30 bighas of land for the project. However, after a few months after the MoU was signed, the NBCC moved away from the project. Since then, the project has been in the doldrums.
While floating tenders for constructing the twin tower trade centre at Betkuchi here, the State Government mentioned two conditions. First, the land value of the allotted 30 bighas of land for the project was fixed at Rs 100 crore. Second, the investor will have to pay an advance security of Rs 300 crore.
Departmental sources said, “The present government feels that this multi-crore project will not be practically possible for several reasons. The Union Government will provide only the logistics backup and not the financial part. Against this backdrop, the entire project had to be taken forward by the Assam Government. Hence, the State Government has to woo the private investors.”
Departmental sources also said that the present government is mulling an alternative viable trade centre instead of the earlier mammoth project.
