Visakhapatnam: The palatial Rushikonda palace, designed and built by the then Jagan Mohan Reddy government, is going to be put to use soon.

After a long wait, the NDA government is set to collect feedback and opinions from people, seeking how to utilise the seven blocks of the project, built at a cost of Rs.500 crore.

By logging on to the official website of the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation, people can share their opinions and suggest how best the project, kept idle for quite a long time, could be made viable.

On October 17, a meeting with stakeholders of the hospitality sector is scheduled in Vijayawada. Converting the Rushikonda project into a business model is said to be one of the points of discussion during the meeting.

Considering the opinions collected from the public, experts and businessmen, the NDA government is going to make a decision on the utilisation of the blocks in the premises.

For the past few years, the Rushikonda palace turned out to be a big puzzle for the NDA government as it did not come to a conclusion on how to make it into a revenue-generating model. Even if it was kept idle, the government has been incurring exorbitant bills in the form of power expenses and maintenance cost.

Another major challenge the government has been facing is the damage of the project blocks with parts of false ceiling giving away along with water leaks in the building. After the NDA government came to power, it formed a committee to analyse how to make use of the Rushikonda palace.

Even as the committee members met and discussed the agenda ahead, no concrete decision was made regarding this direction in the meetings. In the recent meeting held at the Secretariat, the spotlight was again on the utilisation of the Rushikonda project. Two months back when Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan paid a visit to Rushikonda palace as part of his programme ‘Senatho Senani’, he did suggest that the project could be converted into a revenue-generating one like a MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) hub or a venue for destination weddings.

After going through various blocks of the palace, the Deputy Chief Minister expressed concern over the extravagance of the palace and the exorbitant amount that went behind its construction, violating environmental norms.

While going through the blocks, Pawan Kalyan noticed that part of the false ceilings wore off and in other areas, water leaks were spotted. He directed the officials concerned to look into the repair works with immediate effect to prevent further damage to the building.

Even the power consumed by the seven blocks, including Vijayanagara block, comprising three units, Vengi block consisting of two units, Gajapathi block and Kalinga block, is costing lakhs per month for the government.

However, with the exercise to collect public opinion followed by the stakeholders’ meeting of the hospitality sector scheduled next, the move to convert the palatial building into an income-generating project gains momentum.