Bhubaneswar: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has issued a public notice, inviting private parties interested in renting its share of shops at the BMC-Panchadeep Market in Unit IV. One of the oldest market complexes in the city, BMC-Panchadeep Market in Unit IV was built in a public-private partnership mode in 1999 and the civic body has a 35% stake – 112 shops — in it.
Last year in May, BMC had issued a similar notice and 18 shops were given on rent.Later in August, the civic body published another notice for the remaining 94 shops and 14 establishments were put on rent.
In the latest attempt, the BMC has asked interested parties to apply for the remaining 80 shops, of which, 33 are on the ground floor, 28 on the first floor and six each in second, third and fourth floors, besides a room in the basement.
“This market complex is in a prime location of the city. Unit IV itself is a major market area of the city. We have issued the notice inviting potential shopkeepers to take the shops on lease for three years’ time,” city mayor Sulochana Das said.
“It is true that the market complex is in a prime location, but the rent of the shops is quite high if we take a govt project into consideration. The BMC should revise the price only then it would be able to complete the auction,” Suresh Jena, a shopkeeper at Unit IV said.
The project faced a series of hurdles ever since construction started. After the agreement, the private partner was supposed to complete the project in four years, but it got delayed by almost two decades.

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