9 years on, CITCO says Hotel Parkview land not viable for convention centre

The Chandigarh administration had provided CITCO ₹7 crore in 2014 and ₹2.5 crore in 2016 for the centre, envisaged to provide space for exhibitions and meetings

Nine years after the UT administration released a grant of ₹9.5 crore for a convention centre at Hotel Parkview in Sector 24, the Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation Limited (CITCO) has now said the site is not viable and has instead proposed to construct the centre at Sector 31.

A senior CITCO officer said the site in Sector 24, Chandigarh, was not viable, as it was in a low-lying area, besides the premises were already being used for hotel operations. (HT Photo)

UT had provided CITCO ₹7 crore in 2014 and ₹2.5 crore in 2016 for the centre, envisaged to provide space for exhibitions and meetings. Almost a decade later, the expected construction cost has gone up to ₹25 crore.

A senior CITCO officer said the site in Sector 24 was not viable, as it was in a low-lying area, besides the premises were already being used for hotel operations. “We have requested the administration to change the site to near the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) office in Sector 31,” the officer added.

As per UT Estate Office’s plan, the centre will be constructed under the public private partnership (PPP) model.

Kashmir Chand, chairman of CITCO Progressive Workers’ Union, said CITCO kept sitting on the project for nine years despite getting the grant, causing the project cost to multiply manifold: “Now, they are saying the site is not viable.”

As many as eight private firms have shown interest to run the Chef Lake View restaurant at Sukhna Lake. The matter will be taken up in CITCO’s upcoming board meeting. In February, CITCO had invited expressions of interest from private players to run the restaurant that had reported a profit of ₹2 crore in 2022-23.