GURUGRAM:
Huda has appointed
Grant Thornton India as
consultant to rope in a private player to operate and manage
Kingdom of Dreams (KoD), the only cultural hub in Gurugram. This move has put an end to recent fears within the tourism sector that it might close down.
In a letter sent by Huda administrator Chandrashekhar Khare, the estate officer has been directed to issue a detailed appointment letter to Grant Thornton India and execute requisite agreement. TOI has a copy of the letter, which has also directed the Huda executive Engineer to provide necessary assistance to the consultant.
Earlier, Huda had received bids from KPMG and Grant Thornton, both willing to help with the identification of a new partner who would bring in financial resources for reviving and running Kingdom of Dreams. Spread over five acres of land, the hub was set up in 2010 by Great Indian Nautanki Company (GINC). Huda had leased the project to GINC for a period of 15 years but GINC stopped paying rent in 2014, claiming exemption under certain clauses. Since then, Huda and GINC has been fighting a legal battle over cancellation of the lease at the Punjab and Haryana high court. The court is yet to pronounce a judgement in the matter. Till date, GINC owes Rs 62.5 crore to Huda — Rs 44.5 crore as rental, Rs 15.41 crore in VAT and Rs 2.61 crore in entertainment tax.
As a revival plan, the state government had appointed a three-member committee, including Rajan Gupta, Sudhir Rajpal and Sanjeev Kaushal, which suggested the appointment of a consultant to find a new partner to run the project.
Speaking on the newest development, GINC managing director Gagan Anumod Sharma told TOI, “Due to the efforts of the state government, Kingdom of Dreams will not be closing, even for a day. A consultant has been appointed to formalise the lease agreement on the basis of recommendations of the committee formed for this purpose.” The decision would help in further developing KOD as a tourist destination, recover pending dues, increase rental and earn more taxes, added Sharma.
