Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) has invited Expression of Interest (EoI) for the Bliss City project envisaged on 31 acres at Kakkanad to raise alternative revenue for the Kochi metro’s operation and maintenance.
The metro agency had earlier envisaged an approximately ₹3,000-crore wellness and entertainment destination on the property spread over six parcels of land.
The EoI that was floated a week ago says a total area of 40 lakh sq. ft will be made available for mixed-use development to private or public entities which have experience in developing commercial properties, through competitive bidding. The entity will be shortlisted in February 2023, it is learnt.
According to official sources, the entertainment, health, information technology, Artificial Intelligence and media house projects envisaged are based on the concept of integrated ecotone, where everything will be available under a roof.
It had earlier been reported that four industrial houses were among the firms that had expressed interest in the Bliss City project. The government had handed over 17 acres to the metro agency, while the rest was expected to be handed over in sync with the progress of its preparatory work.
The metro agency had conceived it as a ‘city inside a city’, one that left zero carbon footprint. The revenue from the venture and the number of daily commuters touching the 2-lakh mark from the present average of approximately 65,000 were key to ensuring that the metro became a self-sustaining mode of mass rapid transport. The soft loan (availed from French development assistance agency AFD as capital for the metro’s construction) ought to be repaid in 25 years, while daily operation and maintenance expenses of the system of mass rapid transport will increase in the coming years, with the defect liability period of many components having expired or are on the verge of expiry.
