Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has announced the setting up of a Rs 100-crore (Rs 1 billion) multi-purpose shopping arcade in Srinagar. The project will be completed in five years.
The first phase of the project will have a two-storeyed craft market with basement and each floor will have 28 shops. Five blocks of three-storeys each will form part of the project, which will include restaurants, snack bars and kiosks, besides space for show rooms and commercial offices, and 132 shops.
Ample parking place to house 450 vehicles has also been mooted in the design.
This phase will be completed at a cost of Rs 75 crore (Rs 750 million), an official spokesman said.
The Rs 25-crore (Rs 250 million) second phase will consist of an amusement park, a multiplex and an amusement centre with coffee shops, bowling alleys, video game parlours, auditorium, art gallery, banquet hall and cyber cafe.
A service block will be constructed under the phase that also envisages parking space at the semi-basement and ground levels for more than 100 vehicles.
The chief minister said that shopkeepers of Pampore, affected due to the beautification drive, would be provided place at the new shopping complex.
The chief minister emphasised the need for the early completion of the shopping mall and urged the authorities concerned to explore the possibility of seeking institutional finance for the project.
Jammu and Kashmir Minister for Housing and Urban Development and Tourism Ghulam Hussain Mir asserted that the prestigious complex would come up within a fixed time frame without any time or cost overruns.
He said the complex would also provide marketing facilities for Kashmir's world famous handicrafts under one roof. He also said that several parking lots have been planned for Srinagar city to rid it from traffic congestion.
He said the work on the flyover is also going on speedily to complete it as per schedule.
P G Dhar Chakraborti, Commissioner (Housing and Urban Development), giving the project profile said that the prestigious and modern complex would be a self-reliant venture with zero investment from the government.
He said it would generate an annual rental income of Rs 2 crore (Rs 20 million).
UNI
