You can bet it! Not many are willing to put their money on Punjab Government’s ambitious plan to set up a turf club in ludhiana.It seems, the Punjab Government’s ambitious plan for setting up its own race course has trotted into a rough patch with not many bidders coming forward so far.Citing revenue generation, the Punjab Government had managed to get the State legislative Assembly’s nod to the Bill paving way for legalising betting on horses in the State. However, with not many bidders coming forward for the projects, the project’s nodal agency — Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB) — is compelled to give five extensions to the deadlines for tenders.
“Earlier, we have set January 30 and February 2 as the late date to submit bids online and in the form of hard copies, respectively, but as we have not received satisfactory and suitable responses so far, we are just buying some more time. Now, we have fixed July 15 and 16 as the last date for bids to be submitted online and in hard copies,” a senior PIDB official told The Pioneer.Almost every month, the PIDB is extending the last date. The first extension was given to February 27, followed by April 23, May 18, June 16 and now July 16 for submission of bids.“The bidders have raised various queries and have sought some clarifications, which led to some delay. Moreover, we have also made some modifications and amendments in the RFP (request for proposal) document as and when required to attract more and more bidders,” said the official.
The official argued that the entire project involved lot of technical issues, which needed to be sort out first which is resulting in postponement of the project. “It’s a massive project and all bidders are taking their time,” said the official while refusing to divulge how many bidders have so far come forward.The poor response was in sharp contrast with the government authorities’ claims of project being “lucrative for the firms as it involves lot of options of earning money”.“Horse race means betting, so that would be a source of revenue — both off and on course. Besides, the entry fee, the clubs’ membership, facility usage, sales at restaurant or hotels, for boarding and lodging facilities and so much more…the revenue thus generated would be shared between the bidder and the state government,” said the official.
Mulled some five years back, the Punjab Assembly had, in November 2013, gave its go-ahead to the bill for the enactment of Punjab Horse Race (Regulation and Management) Act, 2013, to generate revenue to save state’s beleaguered economy. The Act would provide for placing bets on the racehorses.The Act provides for setting up, management, and operation of race courses, betting activities and intermediaries involved and also for licensing, regulation, control and management of horse races on race courses, maintaining and keeping of horses at race courses, exhibition of horses and other processes of horse race and all matter connected therewith and incidental thereto, among other things.
The state government has allotted 171 acres of land, belonging to the state Animal Husbandary Department, for the project at Mattewara village in ludhiana. To carry out the project, the PIDB is the nodal agency to develop it on design, built, operate and transfer (DBOT) basis, besides Il and FS Infrastructure Development Corporation limited is the project transaction adviser.The multi-crore project will not only house a grand race track, but also inhabits grandstand complex having around 9000 sitting capacity with 60-70 per cent space for standing, barns, betting parlor, tote terminals, bookies ring, hostel, mini-hotel facilities or rooms, 80-metre parade ring, World Class Equestrian Sports Centre, restaurants, steeplechase course, veterinary centre, main arena and indoor arena.