A state-of-art multi-storeyed general-purpose iconic tower is proposed to come up in heart of Bhubaneswar as a joint venture between the Odisha Khadi & Village Industries Board and the IDCO.
The project approved by the Government with an estimated cost of Rs169.54 crore has got a boost with Chief Secretary JK Mohapatra taking a review of its progress at a high-level meeting held on Wednesday. The Chief Secretary wanted completion of the bidding and contract award process by January 2014. He also directed the IDCO to make appropriate planning and arrangements for safety, security and maintenance of the building.
It was proposed to name the building as Ekamra Tower as the world-class structure of its style is in Bhubaneswar, known as Ekamra Kshetra.
The proposed building will be constructed in the Khadi Board premises near Hotel Marrion on Janapath. Expression of Interest (EOI) was invited for selection of an architect/consultant for the building; and, in the process, ABIN Design, Kolkata, was selected for as the consultant. The concept plan has also been approved by the Government. The total construction area of the building is 6,62,000 sqft.
In the meanwhile, short-listing of firms for execution of the work has been taken up. So far, five offers have been received from firms of national and international repute. Scrutiny of the papers has been taken up for short-listing of the firms.
It has been targeted to complete the project by March 2017. The land cost is around Rs 5.69 crore. The building will have a single basement plus ground floor plus 23 floors with a helipad on the top. It will provide for office spaces, shopping malls, interactive sessions, art shows, etc.
The Chief Secretary advised the Special Secretary of the General Administration Department to work out the terms and conditions of the built-up space transaction and maintenance of the building in consultation with the Khadi Borad and the IDCO.
Development Commissioner Injeti Srinivas, Additional Chief Secretary, Finance, UN Behera, IDCO CMD Vishal Dev, GA Special Secretary Niten Chandra along with other senior officers from the IDCO and Industries Department and the Khadi Board participated in the discussions.