Minto Hall to be converted as convention centre

Bhopal, July 12 (UNI) More than a century-old Minto Hall, which housed the Madhya Pradesh Assembly for over four decades, will be converted into a convention-cum trade centre.

The state cabinet, presided over by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan here yesterday, decided to handover possession of the building and adjoining 15 acre land to the Commerce and Industries department.

Few government offices are presently located at the premises of Minto Hall, which was initially constructed by then Bhopal Nawab as an entertainment venue for British officers during the visit of then Viceroy Lord Minto.

The cabinet gave its approval for an agreement with the Trade Fair Authority of India on developing the trade centre.

Official sources said the cabinet sanctioned construction of five roads costing a total of Rs 1465.44 crore on BOT basis. These roads are: four-laning of Bhopal-Dewas (142.20 Km) and Jaora-Nayagaon(125 Km) roads and widening and strengthening of Matkuli-Tamia-Chhindwara road(108 Km), Chandpur-Alirajpur- Kukshi-Badwani(100 Km) and Mandsaur-Sitamau(44 KM) roads.

The cabinet approved allotment of 4,000 acre land for auto testing track at Pithampur. A request will be made with the Centre to treat the cost of the land as the state government's equity in the project implementation venture.

It also ratified the decision to set up a cabinet committee to oversee implementation of the information technology policy. The committee will look into the proposals for investment from I T and infrastructure development companies, besides allotment of land.

The cabinet also approved several bills to be presented in the monsoon session of Assembly, recruitment of Assistant Conservator of Forests and Assistant Directors in Local Fund Audit. The divisional offices of Agriculture department will be revived at Bhopal, Indore, Ujjain, Sagar, Gwalior, Jabalpur and Rewa.

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