Economic Development Corporation of Goa is in the news lately. For one they have recorded encouraging profits to the tune of Rs 61.26 crore for the financial year 2016-17, a significantly jump from the Rs 46 crore profit reported in 2015-16. Secondly, EDC played the good Samaritan when the State is struggling with Goods-and-Services-Tax (GST) compliance and volunteered to train 600 youngsters to become GST consultants. The big takeaway however for EDC is the Dona Paula convention centre which is allotted to the corporation overriding Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC).
EDC is primarily a financial institution established by the Government of Goa to promote industrial investment within the State, that includes funding corporations like GSIDC. On the other hand GSIDC has been formed as a Special Purpose Vehicle for speedy implementation of all the infrastructural projects like roads, bridges, fly-overs, bus-stands, hospitals, tourism related projects, etc. The Corporation acts as a co-ordinating agency for implementing projects.
However, a recent Cabinet decision to appoint EDC as the nodal agency as well as a special-purpose vehicle for the construction of the convention centre at Dona Paula ignoring GSIDC defies all logic and smacks of political appeasement.
The convention centre will host the International Film Festival of India in future as well as other global events. Going by the project, the obvious choice would have been GSIDC which is known to have handled big projects like the third Mandovi bridge, multiplex, renovation of Kala Academy, beautification of Panaji and Lusofonia infrastructure, etc. The obvious question would be why was the GSIDC, which apparently was the brainchild of Parrikar prior to 2002, not considered for the proposed convention centre?
Government must also explain the rationale behind reverting the earlier BJP government decision of transferring land from ESG to InfoTech Corporation of Goa when ITG had no role to play in IFFI-related issues.
In trying to appease the former Panaji MLA Sidharth Kuncalienker, who is also the chairman of EDC for vacating his seat, Manohar Parrikar appears to have done a delicate balancing act. The project has been shifted from the jurisdiction of GSIDC which is headed by MGP's Deepak Pawaskar and handed over to EDC.
Parrikar spoke of two reasons for handing over the project to EDC. One is because no major construction company was required to do the job as the project would come up on Public-Private Partnership basis. Secondly, according to the CM, the agency in charge of developing the project would require to have more of a financial knowledge, instead of technological knowledge. CM's reasoning still doesn't explain why GSIDC was kept out.
