It was conceived as a major infrastructure project to support Goa’s aspirations to be the permanent venue for the International Film Festival of India (IFFI).
Twenty years later, Goa has already hosted 20 editions and has been officially recognised as the IFFI’s permanent host but there seems to be no sign that construction of the much-touted ‘Convention Centre’ will take off any time soon.
And, the sprawling site chosen to build it where the aborted Rajiv Gandhi IT Park was once supposed to come up at Dona Paula, arguably one of the most expensive real estate in the State (after the cynosure of Delhi eyes Assagao) stands neglected with shrubs growing wild.
Last year in May, the State government’s Department for Public Private Partnership (DPPP) had floated a global tender for the second time but got no credible bid in response to build the convention centre.
This second attempt to get takers for the proposed ‘International Convention Centre’ was floated with the DPPP seeking fresh bids to construct a 5,000-seater hall and allied infrastructure on nearly one-lakh square meters of the prime Dona Paula land.
On the first attempt made by the government in December 2022, the winning bidder turned out to be a player without the financial means to execute such a huge project. The winning bidder had failed to furnish the performance guarantee of Rs 16.2 crore which prompted the government to cancel out the Letter of Award (LoA). It went into litigation in the High Court but after a brief legal battle, the government’s decision was upheld and the decks were cleared for inviting fresh global bids which was done in May last year.
A ‘Convention Centre’ of this magnitude (5,000 seater) was envisaged to synch with Goa’s plan to emulate Cannes and was first mooted by former chief minister, the late Manohar Parrikar back in 2004-05.
However, the proposal metamorphosed into a concrete project a decade later in 2015, when State-owned Economic Development Corporation (EDC) was made the nodal agency and asked to execute the project. After much groundwork done by the EDC, bureaucrats nixed the idea of the Corporation executing it and the PPP Cell of the State government was given charge.
Design-Build-Finance-Operate-and-Transfer (DBFOT) is the mode in which the government has chosen to executed the project as it does not pose any burden on the State exchequer other than the government providing the land, which in this case has already been acquired.
The project is primarily a 5,000-seater Convention Hall, a 300-room convention hotel, a four-screen multiplex, a retail mall and several other smaller ventures on the sprawling one-lakh square meters.
The company that eventually wins the project will likely face similar terms to those of GMR Airports Ltd at Manohar International Airport in Mopa. This includes revenue sharing and transferring ownership back to the Goa government after the concession period ends.
National and international developers can bid for the project, either individually or as part of a consortium. According to the last tender details, the winning bidder must complete the project within three years of signing the concession agreement with the State government.
In January last year, the State government issued a Letter of Award (LoA) to a consortium of New Consolidated Construction Co Ltd, Maiwir Engineering Pvt Ltd, and Octmec Consultants LLP. This was meant to fulfil Goa’s goal of creating a convention centre to boost the State’s tourism profile. However, this hope was dashed when the consortium failed to meet the tender requirements, including making necessary performance guarantee payments.
This was the second LoA cancelled by the State government. The first was issued to the DCS Solar-Vascon consortium, which also failed to provide the required Rs 16.2 crore performance guarantee.
With the latest attempt falling flat, it is now to be seen whether a fresh attempt will be made by the government to locate the convention centre in Dona Paula or shift closer to the Mopa plateau where the government has carved out a separate planning and development authority and harbours hopes of attracting big ticket tourism and entertainment related investment.
