The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Bus shelters to spin money for Corporation

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Sunday, May 04, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Bus shelters to spin money for Corporation

Staff Reporter

Project to be executed by a private developer

Chennai: It looks like the residents of the city will have to wait a little longer for the modern bus shelters proposed by the Chennai Corporation as the local body will float tenders once again for the project.

The proposed bus shelters are being looked on as money spinners that could earn the Corporation a tidy sum through royalty from advertising rights, especially now that the hoarding industry is being regulated.

At the Corporation Council meeting on Saturday, Mayor M. Subramanian said the civic body would go for a re-tender for the bus shelters project, which is to be executed by a private developer using the revenue earned from advertising on the shelters.

The announcement was made after Congress councillor S. Mangalraj raised the point that the Corporation was in a position to command a higher bid from outdoor advertising agencies for authorised billboards as illegal hoardings had been removed.

Bangalore example

He cited the example of Bangalore Corporation earning high revenue from hoardings. The Chennai Corporation had earlier floated tenders for modernisation of 500 bus shelters. The project developer would have to use the revenue earned from advertising rights to construct the shelters and also pay a royalty to the Corporation. The construction of each bus shelter would cost about Rs.11.5 lakh. The project was divided into four packages and the Corporation set the minimum advertising rights fee as Rs. 45 lakh per package. The bids received from outdoor advertising firms far exceeded the minimum royalty.

Adlabs Films Limited quoted Rs.4.05 crore per package, which is nine times the minimum royalty fee set by the civic body. Adlab’s quote was the highest but big names in the industry, including Landmark 360 Media and Laqshya Media, also competed for the project. The Mayor said that tenders were floated before the Supreme Court’s upholding of the Madras High Court ruling against illegal hoardings. “It is possible that we may get even higher bids after the regulation of the hoarding industry. The issue would be discussed in an all party meeting of the Council soon,” he said.

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