10 years, MSCL’s PPP projects still fail to see completion

Mangaluru: The Mangaluru Smart City Limited (MSCL) took up four projects worth Rs 262 crore under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, but none of them have seen completion even after 10 years. Installation of solar panels on govt building rooftops; multilevel car parking in Hampankatta; conversion of conventional streetlights into LED; and Central Market are the four projects taken up under the PPP model. Only the Central Market project taken up under a PPP model at an estimated cost of Rs 114.03 crore is nearing completion. However, MSCL authorities have said the project will be opened only in Dec this year.The work on development of the multi-level car parking (MLCP) facility, designed to accommodate 400 vehicles at Hampankatta in the city, has been moving at a snail's pace. The construction, which initially started in Nov 2021, experienced significant delays and temporarily ceased operations due to technical reasons. The project was planned to be taken up at an estimated cost of Rs 79.1 crore. MSCL officials said the work on touch piling, footing, columns and other constructions are is in progress at the MLCP site.The LED streetlight project, which was launched in 2021, is another PPP model project that could not be completed even after five years. The project aimed to replace 65,870 conventional streetlights in 60 wards of the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) limits with energy-efficient LED lights at an estimated cost of Rs 62.6 crore. The concessionaire could replace less than 25,000 streetlights with LED lights so far under the project, which is expected to reduce the electricity cost of the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) by 50%.Similarly, while a target of 1,288 kW power production was planned through the installation of solar panels on govt building rooftops, as per official statistics, the PPP project could achieve only 705 kW so far.MSCL general manager (technical) Arun Prabha KS said that the MLCP project may require another 12 months for completion. He said the MCC has been monitoring the progress of the LED streetlight project. Due to technical reasons, the rooftop solar panel installation project was delayed. The project will be completed soon by the concessionaire. On the implementation of the LED streetlight project, he said the MCC has been monitoring the implementation.
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