The Jammu and Kashmir government today said that the Gandola car-cable project at Udhampur district’s Patnitop tourist resort would be completed by December.
The first stage of the project from Sanjote to Patnitop is expected to be completed by December, Minister of State for Tourism Priya Sethi said.
She was replying to a question raised by BJP legislator Ashok Khajuria in the Legislative Council.
“The first stage of the project is under execution. The agency was finalised after floating of tenders and only one company participated in the process.
It is being constructed on Built-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) basis,” she said.
Though, the date for inviting tenders was extended, only Empyrean Skyview Projects Private Limited participated, and it was approved by the state Cabinet, the minister said in her reply.
The Mantalia-Sudhmahdev-Patnitop is being developed as an independent tourist circuit in the Jammu region at a cost of Rs 97.82 crore, she said.
Under the project, a Yoga centre, spa and an ayurvedic complex with a separate area for traditional Indian medicinal therapies and herbal garden are also being constructed, Sethi said.
The minister said that other infrastructure include a heliport, open air amphitheatre, CCTVs and jogging tracks.
The construction of the circuit has been entrusted to the National Projects Construction Corporation (NPCC). The master plan and design concept have been finalised by the Ministry of Tourism, she said.