Bhikangaon (Madhya Pradesh): The municipal council received auction bids for 19 of the 23 shops here on Thursday. As many as 70 applications were received ahead of the auction. The civic body received a tender of Rs 2,66,36,385 from the applicants for the 19 stores. The amount received in the auction will be used for the development of the town. Around 46 applications were received for 15 stores in phase 1 while 24 applications were received for eight stores in phase 2. The remaining four stores will be auctioned in the future.
During the auction, an applicant Vipin Brahmane had bid an amount of only Rs 1 lakh which was much less than the official bid while Priya Akshay Agarwal had the highest bid of Rs 21,21,021.
The civic body has built and auctioned shops on such a large scale for the first time.
Municipal council president Deepak Thakar said that the body has constructed stores to generate employment for the youth after 35 years.
Chief municipal officer Mohan Singh Alawa said that three stores were auctioned on Mahatma Gandhi Marg in Ward No 1 for the first time in 1982 followed by seven stores at bus stand, five on Sardar Vallabh Marg in 1984 and five stores on Jawahar Marg in Ward No 12 in 1986. Later, three stores in the passenger waiting hall in 2020 and 23 stores in 2022 have been constructed and auctioned by the municipal council.
Apart from constructing stores to generate employment among youth, the civic body has majorly focused on the beautification of the town and has constructed paver blocks on both sides of the main road for a dust-free town. It has also constructed, gardens, CC roads in various wards of the town, trenching ground and installed fountains at public places.
