Credit: DH Photos
Davangere: The plan of the Davangere Smart City Limited to rent out 1.3 lakh sq ft commercial space (shopping mall) for a multiplex and shopping mall on the new bus stand premises here seems to have come a cropper.
The bus terminal has been built at a cost of Rs 130 crore, but the commercial space has been lying vacant for the past one year, post its inauguration. Despite inviting tender six times, the response has been poor.
Sources in KSRTC Davangere division said KSRTC initially invited tenders, expecting a monthly revenue of Rs 59 lakh. Due to poor response from bidders, the rate was reduced to Rs 55 lakh.
The corporation has now decided to further reduce the revenue expectation from Rs 55 lakh to Rs 41.5 lakh.
KSRTC divisional traffic officer Fakruddin said big companies generally bag such tenders and then lease or rent out the space to individual operators. Yet not a single bidder participated.
The facility includes a parking space, first floor, second floor and a multiplex with three screens.
Two small cinema halls have 175 seats each, while the bigger one has a seating capacity of 300.
KSRTC officials are now gearing up for the tender process for the seventh time.
A whopping 17,000 sqft is available at the cellar for vehicle parking of customers and staffers of the tenants or the lessee.
Sachin, a businessman and building developer, told DH, “Unlike the high school ground where the temporary bus terminal functioned, the new bus terminal is not centrally located. People of the city have not yet adapted to the mall culture. The S S Mall owned by district in-charge minister S S Mallikarjun’s family on Shamanur Road still has vacant commercial space. Above all, the city is not witnessing much development towards Avaragere and new commercial establishments are not coming up there. So, finding a bidder is an uphill task”.
KSRTC Davangere divisional controller Shivakumaraiah said it was too early to comment on the issue.
“We are hopeful that it will be occupied soon. It was a joint venture by Davangere Smart City Limited and KSRTC,” he added.