Capt to lay stone on Oct 25, tenders yet to be floated

PATIALA : Chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh will lay the foundation stone of the muchhyped Rs 65 crore Patiala interstate bus terminal (ISBT)-CUMcommercial complex on October 25 but the tenders for the project, to be constructed on 8.25 acres, are yet to be floated.

The project announced during Amarinder’s tenure as CM in 2005 has been hanging fire for the past about 15 years. The government has assigned the task of project’s planning and execution to the state public works department. Earlier, the Punjab infrastructure Development Board (PIDB) floated tenders on Pepsu Road Transport Corporation’s (PRTC) behalf thrice, but it failed to find any bidders.

PRTC managing director Jaskiran Singh said all the planning related to execution of the project has been completed. The process for floating tenders is in its last phase,” he added.

The district administration has already identified 8.5 acre land belonging to the Patiala Improvement Trust (PIT) on the Patiala-rajpura road.

As per request for the proposal document, of 8.5 acre land, the new ISBT will be constructed on 6.25 acre, while the remaining 2.25 acre is reserved for construction of the PRTC complex, covering the office building, workshops and fuel station.

The project was mooted in 2005 and it was decided to shift the bus stand to a new location on Patiala-rajpura road. Then deputy CM Sukhbir Badal laid the foundation stone in 2009.