Tourist from all over the country
Each year Dharmshala attracts millions of national and international tourists and pilgrims. With increasing tourist footfall, the region has started to face traffic congestions which worsen during weekends. Photos of long queue on the hilly roads leading upto Dhaamshala had become a common sight. The menace of traffic had increased so much that tourist vehicles had to completely disallowed in McLeodganj during peak season. Being surrounded with hills, the roads were vulnerable to landslides that bring the traffic movement to standstill for hours at a stretch. The hilly terrain also poses challenges in road construction and maintenance. The natural gradient difference between Dharamshala and McLeodganj also required local populace to commute daily to and fro for work. This not only worsened the traffic conditions but also had a toll on the health of the people who had to wait in traffic inhaling the toxic exhaust gases from the vehicles. The pollution from vehicles had itself become a problem to reckon with. With the increased traffic on narrow roads, fatal accidents were fast becoming norm of the day. Reports of 10-12 hr traffic jams had in fact started deterring tourists from visiting Dharamshala and hotel room occupancy had started plummeting even during peak time. Immediate action was thus required.
DTCA carried out stakeholder consultations and concluded that if appropriate incentives were built into the project, then the project could be taken up on PPP mode which could bring in private finances and efficiency. Ropeways are a niche projects and only 2-3 firm’s world over have the requisite commercially viable technology, and these OEM partners were keener to contract with a private party for providing the technology.
DTCA moved ahead with inviting the bids for the ropeway project on Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (the “DBFOT”) basis. Dharamshala Ropeway Limited (DRL) an SPV formed by TRIL Urban Transport Private Limited(TUTPL), a subsidiary of the TATA Realty and Infrastructure Limited, emerged as the concessionaire for the project. The project was bid out on highest concession fee basis.
Implementation Agency- The Department of Tourism
Previous attempts of DTCA to develop a ropeway on its own had not been successful. It seemed that due to the low financial viability of the ropeway projects, ropeways being a seasonal and one-time attraction for the tourists, would not generate much interest in the private players to take up the project.
Considering the market scenario, the State took a decision to leverage private sector investments in the development and operations of ropeways, not only to supplement public budgets but also to utilise private sector innovation, efficiencies and new technologies for such services.
The high expectation of the footfall encouraged the private partner to take up the project on Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) mode with finance risks completely borne by the private partner
The success of the project is owed to the commitment of the DTCA for the project. The enabling Act was also amended to simplify the process of approvals and licences.
- Successful implementation of the project has reduced travel time between Dharmshala and McLeodganj to just about 5 mins, as against a minimum of half an hour by road. The ropeway provides a new attraction for the tourists and also saves their time for commuting between the two ends, resulting in decongesting the roads. The ropeway boasts of some of the most beautiful scenic beauty of the region and leverages it to provide exotic experience to the travelers. The Ropeway is developed as a sustainable infrastructure, reducing vehicular pollution, promoting greening of the hills and providing ease of travel.
- The project was integrated with Multi level car parking at the base point in Dharamshala, thus providing end to end convenience to the visitors as well as backward integration for the project, improving its financial viability.
The project generated good investor interest, finally only one valid was received, but this did not perturb the DTCA, and the bid was accepted following due procedures of review by a high-level committee and approval by the State Cabinet.
