Curation Team
KOCHI: Tripunithura municipal council initiated tender procedures after fixing minimum rent and deposit rates for shops at T K Ramakrishnan Memorial Mall and A G Raghava Menon Mall, aiming to make them operational in the coming months. The council also amended bylaws to officially classify the structures as commercial buildings.
The malls, constructed over five years ago with local body funds, remained largely unused since their inauguration in 2020. T K Ramakrishnan Memorial Mall was built at a cost of Rs 10 crore, while the second mall cost Rs 8.5 crore. Both projects were launched during the tenure of the previous municipal council.
Municipality chairperson Rema Santhosh said the complexes were originally intended to function as malls but leasing them out became difficult due to Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent economic slowdown. “Despite three rounds of tendering, no applications were received. Two separate attempts to invite offers directly also failed,” she said.
Faced with repeated setbacks, the council amended its bylaws and unanimously resolved to reclassify the properties as commercial buildings, paving way for a fresh tender process.
A recent audit report also recommended this step, pointing out that the prolonged non-operation of the facilities resulted in heavy revenue losses for the municipality. It suggested that converting them into shopping complexes would be a more practical and financially viable option.
Municipal officials also urged local entrepreneurs and traders to participate in the tendering process.
