Kingdom of Dreams in Gurugram will soon get a new operator

Officials privy to the matter said that certain conditions in the ‘Request For Proposal’ are being changed further to ensure that norms for the new operator are further tightened.

Kingdom of Dreams (KoD) in Sector 29, the city’s cultural hotspot, is in the throes of getting a new operator as the Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) is about to finalise the ‘Request For Proposal’ for interested parties to run this cultural hub.

Kingdom of Dreams is one of Gurugram’s cultural hotspots. (HT Photo)

Last month, a presentation was made by consultant Grant Thornton to officials in a meeting chaired by the HSVP chief administrator in Chandigarh, in which key conditions for the bid were finalised. However, officials privy to the matter said that certain conditions in the RFP are being changed further to ensure that norms for the new operator are further tightened.

As per the RFP documents, terms of which were approved in the meeting, the minimum reserve price has been kept at ₹4 crore monthly and upwards depending on the bid. The capital cost of the project has been estimated at ₹300 crore and the lease period has been fixed at 33 years that shall be extendable by another 33 years.

To ensure that financially stable bidders apply for operating the project, the department has stipulated that minimum net worth of operator should be more than ₹100 crore. “The bidder participating in the tenders for KoD project shall clear all the dues of the government and HSVP upfront and banks/GINC as mentioned in the bid document,” state the minutes of the meeting (a copy of which is with HT).

A senior HSVP official in Chandigarh, who did not wish to be named, said that the first pre-condition for the new operator would be to pay all the dues, which are owed to the authority and the banks. “The RFP conditions have been finalized but certain norms will be again scrutinized by the chief administrator, HSVP to make them more stringent,” he added.

It may be noted that the existing operator has to pay over ₹60 crore to the authority as outstanding dues for which a committee had also been formed to revive the project. HSVP had roped in a private consultant to work out the modalities for leasing out the KoD so that it can continue to operate as cultural destination in the city.