SHILLONG, AUG 24: The state government will reduce the price and float a fresh EOI for the Polo shopping mall after three earlier calls found no takers, while the Khyndailad mall is expected to start functioning by the end of this year.
Informing this on Monday, Deputy Chief Minister in-charge Urban Affairs Sniawbhalang Dhar said the Polo project was completed long ago but failed to attract bidders due to high pricing.
“We have called EOI three times but nobody came forward, probably because the price was too high. Now we have decided to reduce the price and call EOI once again,” he said.
Dhar said the allotment model is being reworked to ensure local participation.
“We will not allot it as a single unit. We will allow small players also so that locals can participate. We have worked that out,” he said, adding that the intent behind building the malls is to generate employment for locals.
“We cannot do retail business ourselves as a government. We built that mall to provide employment to locals. If the government itself builds and itself sells, where will we go,” he said.
On Khyndailad, he said, “The mall at Khyndailad is almost complete now, maybe by this year we will be able to start functioning.”
