Varanasi: An integrated commissioner complex (ICC) will come up as twin towers in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's parliamentary constituency soon.
The project will have an investment of Rs 171 crore with the help of private investors.
According to official sources, while one tower will accommodate only government offices, the other will be totally commercial and generate revenue for the maintenance of the former.
The complex will comprise two buildings. While a 17-storey complex will accommodate 44 government offices of commissioner headquarters, the other will solely be a commercial complex of 16-storey.
These twin towers will come up on a three-acre land available on the campus of the commissioner office without disturbing the existing structures.
According to Divisional Commissioner Deepak Agrawal, "Following the state cabinet's nod to set up ICCs in Gorakhpur and Varanasi as a pilot project, a government order was issued which was received here 10 days ago. After this, the basic exercise of site selection, tentative expenditure on constructing ICC building and arranging budget on revenue model instead of depending on the state government for funds, were conducted."
"In the coming days tenders will be floated for the appointment of a transactional advisor for this project on public private partnership model and also an architect," said Agrawal.
He added, "The three-acre vacant land available on the commissioner office compound has been identified for this project in which two towers of 17 and 16 storeys have been proposed with a huge parking facility. Tentative cost of the project has been estimated as of Rs 171 crore by the divisional level committee."
Providing details of the basic idea for the proposed buildings, Varanasi Development Authority vice-chairman, Rahul Pandey, said, "One tower will comprise only government offices of ICC while the second tower will be totally commercial, which will generate revenue for the maintenance and recurring expenses on the building housing government offices."
Agrawal said, "The 17-storey building will house state-of-the-art offices of 44 government departments at the commissionary level. Currently, offices of 12-13 departments are running in their own buildings while others are being operated at rental accommodation where their maintenance is also very poor. Only the regional sports office will continue to remain in the stadium."
The project will ensure better coordination between different government offices associated with the divisional commissioner and also make it easy for people coming from neighbouring districts.
While the first ICC project is in Varanasi, the second ICC project will come up in Gorakhpur, which is the home district of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
—IANS
