In one of the most spectacular contracts ever won by a corporate house in India, the 77-year-old Dalmia Bharat group has created history by adopting a slice of it. The conglomerate has become the first corporate house in India’s history to adopt a historical monument in a contract worth Rs 250 million (or Rs 25 crore) spanning five years.
The monument in question is none other than the 17th century Red Fort, built by India’s fifth Mughal ruler Shah Jahan, as he moved his administrative capital from Agra to present-day Delhi. The Dalmia Bharat group won the contract by beating IndiGo Airlines and the GMR group in the race to bag one of the most prestigious contracts under the Indian government’s ‘Adopt A Heritage’ scheme.
This Private Company has bagged the contract to maintain Red Fort. The purpose for Adoption is purely based on value addition and development only. A total of 116 monuments to be developed are meant to be developed under this move of Central Government. I would want to make it clear it is a pure Philanthropic call by PM Modi, and not an auction of this historical monument.
It’s not a sale or give away, for God’s sake. The corp. is way better than ASI in maintaining, I track temple structures under ASI. It’s hilarious to see ppl talk on Twitter as if the monument has been takeover by Dalmia.this is the scheme for better info
#RedFortControversy it's not a sale or give away, for God's sake. ? The corp. is way better than ASI in maintaining, I track temple structures under ASI. It's hilarious to see ppl talk on Twitter as if the monument has been takeover by Dalmia.this is the scheme for better info pic.twitter.com/krJH7ariG0
— krithika sivaswamy (@krithikasivasw) April 28, 2018
Clerics have criticized and said that, Red Fort is for hire now? They are trying to oppose this move by the Central Government and are trying to advertise this as a Controversy against PM Modi.
Why are people trying to Communalize this Development scheme under the Central Government? Or rather should I say that Leftists and Congress are trying to Communalize and use this as a weapon against PM Modi?
After handing over the Red Fort to the Dalmia group, which is the next distinguished location that the BJP government will lease out to a private entity?
After handing over the Red Fort to the Dalmia group, which is the next distinguished location that the BJP government will lease out to a private entity? #IndiaSpeaks
— Congress (@INCIndia) April 28, 2018
The INC India has also tried to politicise this matter by propagating this poll on its twitter handle. It has become a regular habit of Congress party to criticize and condemn each and every move by PM Modi, even though it is in favour of the nation. Congress has always had a problem with the development purposes and the ones associated with the upbringing of the nation.
“We have to start work within 30 days and have to own it for five years initially. Then the contract can be extended on mutually agreeable terms. It will help us integrate the Dalmia brand with India. This project will have customer centricity as the visitors will be our customers. We want more people from Delhi and NCR to come here regularly rather than just one-time tourists. Just look at some of the castles in Europe which are a fraction of the Red Fort’s size but are so meticulously maintained. We will develop the monument on similar lines and it will be among the world’s best,” said Mahendra Singhi, the group CEO of Dalmia Bharat Cement.
The Dalmia Bharat group has started brainstorming on how it intends to develop the Red Fort over the next few months. It will start work on May 23 before handing it over temporarily to security agencies in July as sanitisation measures kick in for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s last independence day speech of his present tenure.
Work on other aspects of the contract would resume in full swing after that.
Among other things, the group plans to install tactile flooring for the physically challenged and signage that depicts the monument’s history. It also plans to use the Red Fort for various events such as music concerts and other cultural activities to promote greater tourist interest in the monument. As the corporate house moves forward with its planned works, it would also launch various marketing and advertising activities to popularise the revamped Red Fort for people to visit.
We should actually appreciate the clerics. They are opposing maintenance of Redfort by 3rd a party, because it’s a Muslim monument. And we Hindus have let the government swindle money and open up temple lands to others throughout the country.
Advithi
