Rs 100-cr shopping plaza planned in Bathinda

The Bathinda Improvement Trust (BIT) plans to set up a Rs 100-crore shopping plaza by developing the land of the Blue Fox complex located on the Bathinda-Chandigarh road to generate revenue.

The Punjab Government, which had approved the decision on October 17, today issued an official notification for the multi-crore complex.

Jatinder Singh Bhalla, Chairman, BIT, said the vacant land near the Rose Garden would now be developed into the Blue Fox Plaza. The one-acre project will include 26 ultra-modern showrooms, with an estimated market value of over Rs 100 crore.

He emphasised the implementation of the long-delayed project would boost the trust’s income, which in turn would help accelerate the city’s overall development. Since the location lies on a main road, the new plaza will also contribute greatly to Bathinda’s beautification.

In 2012 too, the trust had planned 40 shops-cum-offices and a hotel at the Blue Fox complex, but the project failed to start.

Before that, even an attempt by the Municipal Corporation, Bathinda, and the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board to auction the land of the complex for commercial purposes had failed to evoke a good response from the bidders owing to the high reserve price of an average Rs 51,000 per sq yard.

Once even the land in question was put on auction on March 12, 2008. Then, the reserve price had been fixed at Rs 50,000 per sq yard with an eligibility fee of Rs 1 crore. The bids had reached Rs 60,000 when the Punjab and Haryana High Court had reportedly stayed the auction.

The trust took the land from the MC around 2011 after giving a loan of Rs 96 crore to the corporation against the land.