COVID-19 or not, 6,000-seater convention centre project still on

Notwithstanding the post-coronavirus new world order where large business gatherings will not be the same, Karnataka has decided to go ahead with big-ticket Bengaluru International Convention Centre (BICC) project near the airport with a seating capacity of 6,000.

The public-private partnership project will cost not less than Rs 2,000 crore, according to an estimate from the Infrastructure Development Department (IDD).

The BICC is proposed to come up on a 35-acre plot earmarked for the Bengaluru Signature Business Park adjacent to the Kempegowda International Airport. It will have a state-of-the-art convention hall, an exhibition hall, food court and other supporting facilities such as star category hotels and premium service apartments.

Although it was approved by the Cabinet in November 2017, work has been slow. Like many other projects, the BICC got further delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to IDD principal secretary Kapil Mohan.

He ruled out the possibility of convention centres losing their relevance in a post-COVID world. “These are long-term infrastructure projects,” he said, adding that the project will take “absolute minimum of two years.”

For now, the Infrastructure Development Department has decided to drop the project from the revised master plan of the Karnataka State Industrial & Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (KSIIDC).

“It’s not that the project itself has been dropped. We want to go in for PPP and we have the land for it,” Mohan said.

The total cash outgo for the government will be in the form of a viability gap fund (VGF), Mohan said. “We want to leverage government money, not invest it. So, we decided that VGF is something we need to do more,” he said.

The BICC will complement the Signature Park, which will have office spaces and other realty projects for which 407 acres near the airport has been identified.

“Tendering has gone to the government for approval,” Mohan said. “We’re going to provide the basic infrastructure only and this will take 18 months. Then, it’ll need 3-4 years minimum for full-fledged operations.”

The BICC and the Signature Park are expected to spruce up the airport area in Devanahalli, turning into a business and commercial hub. Plus, the government wants to erect a 108-foot bronze statue of Bengaluru founder Kempegowda at an estimated cost of Rs 66 crore in front of the airport as a tourist attraction.