First phase of Sabarmati Riverfront project completed: Nitin Patel

Gandhinagar: The first phase of the much awaited Sabarmati riverfront project, a pet project of PM Narendra Modi, has finally been completed, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel today announced.

He said that the first phase of the project has entailed a cost of around Rs 2500 crores.

The Dy CM said that in the auction of the two out of 51 plots under the project would be done through international bidding in a transparent manner now to fetch the maximum price for it. These plots were in the 14.5% area of the reclaimed eastern and western banks, which has been reserved for commercial use.

He said that the bidders could put forth their bid till June 5 for the same.

Notably, In May 1997, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation launched a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) – the Sabarmati Riverfront Development Corporation Limited (SRFDCL) under Section 149(3) of the Indian Companies Act, 1956. The SRFDCL was provided with a seed capital of Rs. 9 crore and entrusted with the responsibility of developing the riverfront on a Build, Maintain, Operate and Transfer (BMOT) basis. The SPV model was used to avoid the delays associated with municipal decision-making. Riverbed land, which was originally held by the Government of Gujarat, was transferred to the AMC. AMC has, in turn, granted development rights to SRFDCL for this reclaimed land.

The Riverfront project, for which the actual work started in 2005 (which stopped later owing to floods in 2006 and resumed in 2007) planned to channeling the Sabarmati river to a constant width of 263m. The riverbed land has been reclaimed to create 11.25 kms of public riverfront on both the banks. The total land reclamation is 202.79 hectares.

The project has been planned to be self-financed. A portion of the total around 202 hectares of reclaimed land of the riverbed is to be sold or leased for commercial development, to generate adequate resources to pay for developing the riverfront and managing it.

DeshGujarat