The state urban development department is all set to host an investors’ meet in Ranchi this Saturday (October 2) to woo real estate developers and firms from various sectors to join the second edition of e-auction of plots for the proposed smart city project in the capital.
According to officials on Thursday, the meet has been planned at BNR Chanakya where over two dozen companies are expected to participate, besides representatives of local trade bodies. Ranchi Smart City project CEO Amit Kumar maintained that they have invited a host of people from across sectors such as hospitality, education, real estate, among others, from within and outside the state for the meet.
“The state government is soon going to put about 42 plots covering 218-acre under auction. However, before the meeting there will be an opportunity for potential investors to know about the offerings at this site. Also, it will be an opportunity for us to know their concerns or get any suggestions before we auction,” he said.
He added that in the upcoming auction, plots of different nature will be put under the hammer. “The plots will be for education, commercial, public and semi-public utility and mixed use purposes,” he said.
The first phase of e-auction was held between January and February when officials claimed that about nine big plots had been sold. Sources, however, said that the department has not received responses from enough bidders because of which the urban development department had planned the investors’ meet before finalizing the date for the next auction.
Ranchi is among the 100 cities selected for India’s Smart City mission by the Centre. In 2017, vice president M Venkaiah Naidu had laid the foundation for the project in the state capital but work to set up basic infrastructure began only in 2019.
The state urban development department has so far invested around Rs 800 crore for construction of facilities like drainage system, command and control system, convention centre among others.
According to officials the smart city project is set up on 657 acres in the HEC area of which about 37 percent has been earmarked for greenery and open spaces as per the master plan. About 278.52 acres of land covering around 51 plots of various dimensions are initially being auctioned in various phases.
