Capital Ranchi will boast an over 25,000sqm convention centre of international standard by the first quarter of 2020 as a part of the Smart City project.
Jharkhand Urban Infrastructure Development Company (Juidco) and project director (technical) S.K. Sahu said that Larsen and Toubro had been issued directives to stick to the deadline.
“State urban development secretary Ajoy Kumar Singh had directed L&T during a review meeting in December 2018 that the project would have to be completed within the deadline of 24 months. Construction work began in February 2018 and we hope it will be ready for handover by February 2020,” said Sahu, adding that once ready, the corporate sector would not have to look elsewhere to hold conferences and AGMs.
The convention centre, coming up at Dhurwa at a cost of Rs 390.17 crore, will have a total built-up area of 25,905.50 sq metre. Juidco sources said the work, which was supposed to commence from 2017, was delayed till 2018 due to land acquisition issues.
“However, construction of the G+2 convention centre has picked up pace now. It will have six meeting halls with foldable partitions that can accommodate 5,000 people. There will be five business centres and executive boardrooms with corporate lounges and 15 meeting rooms. All facilities will be fully air-conditioned,” said a Juidco official, adding that there would also be a mini-auditorium with a seating capacity of 500.
The centre, that will sport a landscaped lawn, would also have media rooms. Parking facilities for more than 1,000 cars and over 500 two-wheelers would be made in the basement. The centre would have an escalator and elevators.
Each floor would have food courts and beverage outlets.
Ranchi Smart City Corporation spokesperson Amit Kumar said Juidco officials had visited Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar to adopt its self-sustainable model for the convention centre. “The urban development secretary has sought a revenue driven model for the convention centre to take care of day to day operations and maintenance,” he added.
