The much-hyped 65-storey ‘Twin Tower Trade Centre’ project in Guwahati remains a non-starter with the “disappearance” of National Buildings Construction Corporation (India) from the scene.
A report in the Assam Tribune on August 9 stated that the Assam government is now looking for a new developer for the project.
The report said that Assam Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) has advertised seeking “request for proposals” to rope in a consultant for assisting the government in developing the twin towers.
“The consultant will have to assist the government in extensive marketing and promotion of the project to identify domestic, national or international potential developers for the proposed project,” the report said.
The twin-tower project, estimated to cost Rs 2000 crore, was much publicized during the buildup to the Advantage Assam Global Investors’ Summit in February 2018.
The Assam government had promised around 32 bigha of land near NH37 in Beltola for the project.
“The story during Advantage Assam summit was such that there would be a big industrial boom in the state which would lead to a high demand of premium corporate office space. Probably, that is why the state government could convince the NBCC, a PSU, to get involved in the project. However, nothing of that sort happened and apparently, no interest was seen from any corner for booking space in the project,” the report quoted unnamed sources in the AIDC as saying.
“There was no other funding proposal from the government side. The builder would have to build at their own cost,” sources added.
“No progress was made so far. We are looking for a new developer for the project for which we intend to engage a consultant,” sources in the AIDC said.
In January 2019, NBCC had floated tender for construction of the ‘Twin Tower Trade Centre’ in Assam, but apparently no bidder evinced interest. The proposal was for construction of the ‘World Trade Centre’ on “design, engineering, procurement and construction basis, including operation and maintenance”.
