Govt to revive convention centre project at Dona Paula

Panaji: Nearly two years after the project was scrapped, state govt on Monday decided to go ahead with the construction of a 5,000-seat international convention centre at Dona Paula, on a public-private partnership (PPP) mode. The project is valued at Rs 540 crore and will be built on a 1 lakh sqm land.
“We will soon float a tender inviting bidders to construct the convention centre,” chief minister Pramod Sawant told TOI.

The convention centre will have meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE). The estimated project cost of the mandatory facilities was projected as Rs 540 crore.
The convention centre will have more than 300 rooms and a four-screen multiplex with a combined seating capacity of not less than 800 seats.
The project conceptualisation was based on the assessment carried out by transaction advisors — Knight Frank, prepared in Nov 2020.
State govt floated a request for proposal (RFP) on two occasions. The first time was in Dec 2020, and two bids were received. A Letter of Award (LoA) was issued to the successful bidder. Due to failure in providing a valid performance security of Rs 16.2 crore, the LoA was terminated in Jan 2021.
A complaint with the crime branch of Goa police was lodged against the selected bidder for submission of a fake and fabricated bank guarantee.
During the second attempt in May 2022, five bids were received. An LoA was issued to the successful bidder. Due to the failure of the selected bidder to meet the conditions outlined in the LoA, including the formation of the concessionaire special purpose vehicle (SPV) and submission of performance security of Rs 16.2 crore as stipulated in the LoA. The LoA was terminated in July 2023.
“These infrastructures can complement the proposed convention centre, addressing the need for modern hosting facilities in Panaji. The centre is an ideal cluster for quality MICE. The project is of strategic importance for Panaji to decongest the city,” Sawant said.
Tourism bodies like TTAG lay emphasis on integrated convention centre infrastructure. Promoting Goa as an event destination with quality infrastructure will contribute to GDP, generate revenue for the state, and provide employment opportunities, particularly for youth, the CM said.