KSRTC towers turn white elephant
KTDFC was pulled up by the Comptroller and Auditor General for bad loans and skewed complexes.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The prospects of the KSRTC earning revenue from its real estate space has been dented by the mishandling of the shopping complexes built by the Kerala Transport Development Finance Corporation (KTDFC) in its land. The KTDFC was supposed to pass 50 per cent of the revenue it earns from shopping complexes to the KSRTC and it built complexes at Thiruvananthapuram, Thiruvalla, Kozhikode and Angamaly. However, with unscientific designs, over-ambitious rent and legal imbroglio over corruption, they have failed to attract many prospective tenants.
“The KTDFC had lent over '4,000 crore to the KSRTC. It holds custody of prime real estate land and also receives massive amount daily in terms of interest. However, despite the KSRTC compromising on space for parking, it has not been able to generate non-transport revenue,” said a senior KSRTC official. The KTDFC has spent around Rs 65 crore on Thampanoor complex, over Rs 7 crore at Angamaly, Rs 47 crore at Tiruvalla and around Rs 60 crore at Kozhikode. However, high caution deposit and rent per square feet have turned off the prospective tenants.
During the first round of tendering in the state capital, the KTDFC had sought a caution deposit of around Rs 20 lakh per unit which was deemed too high by prospective buyers that included small restaurants. Recently, the caution deposit was brought down to 18 months’ rent. While all the shopping complexes are between five and 11-storeyed, occupancy has been limited to one or two floors. The buildings do not have adequate parking space on par with the floor space.
Some experts say that this repels prospective tenants. “The Karnataka SRTC which had inspired the projects rented out shops similarly on bus terminals in districts like Hassan, Bengaluru and Shimoga. Interestingly, almost all of them have one or two storeys with the ground floor located close to waiting points for buses. Lodging and parking take up the top floors if there are any,” pointed out M. Akhil, a buyer who backed out after seeking space in the state capital.
The Comptroller and Audit General (CAG) had in 2015 itself predicted that inadequate parking space could repel people from hiring space here. For instance, an entity who would hire a unit of around 1,000 square feet in the capital would not get free space to park more than two two-wheelers. The top floor will be taken up by government offices at a reduced premium.