Developed Ambazari garden likely to be ready by Sept 2022

Nagpur: The development of Ambazari garden will be complete by September 2022 and the city will have a great hang out spot. Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) had signed an agreement with PPP operator Garuda Amusement (Nagpur) Pvt Ltd in September and given it two years to develop all the facilities.

Along with the garden, the operator will develop fitness, recreational, amusement and tourism facilities. The operator will develop a community centre with banquet halls, party lawns, a resort with 20 rooms and a kitchen. It will also develop a club house with a swimming pool, gymnasium, tennis court, squash court, bar-cum-restaurant, jacuzzi, steam bath, etc.

Along with the existing walking track, a cycling track would be developed. A green gym and recreation hut would be set up in the garden. An urban hut of 50 commercial outlets, amphitheatre, exhibition and art gallery and a botanical garden would also be developed.

The children’s play area would be transformed into a state-of-the-art amusement park, which will have an aquarium, water park, food court and souvenir shops.

The PPP operator will invest around Rs100 crore and will pay an annual royalty of Rs1.5 crore to MTDC.

The 44-acre Ambazari garden would be divided into five zones. Zone A and B will be for entry and parking respectively, Zone C – recreation space for kids, Zone D – tourism area with space for shops, exhibitions, etc and Zone E – public recreation area.

The Devendra Fadnavis cabinet had cleared the proposal for MTDC taking over Ambazari garden from Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) in July 2017. Nothing happened till January 2020 when MTDC finally took possession of the land. It signed an agreement with the PPP operator in September 2020.

NMC was using only 19 of the total 44 acres. In 1990s it had started boating facilities and some amusement rides. However, the contract with the operator was cancelled after a few years. After a long gap, NMC tried to develop the park on its own but got no response to the bids. Finally, it persuaded the then chief minister Fadnavis to ask MTDC to do the job.