IT SEZ Report: 12/06/09

 

IT HABITAT DEAL ‘SHADY’
Chandigarh
The Tribune

In the backdrop of the prime location of the IT Park in the vicinity of Raj Bhavan, Sukhna Lake and Golf Club, the Chandigarh administration has diverted the IT habitat from its stated goal of constructing 2,500 flats for IT professionals to an elite township for the wealthy, a representation to the central government has stated.

A representation to P Chidambaram, Union Home Minister, by MN Sharma, first chief architect of Chandigarh, Justice SS Sodhi, former Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court, ML Sarin, former advocate-general, Punjab and Haryana, Nek Chand, creator-director of Rock Garden, and Madhu Sarin, author and urban development planner, stated that the administration used its excuse of “lack of specialisation” to justify awarding the project to Parsvnath Developers.

“Though the administration has a specialised agency -- Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) -- which had constructed over 45,000 units housing over 25 percent of Chandigarh’s population, the administration is on record saying that it does not have the requisite experience to execute such a specialised project to construct about 2,500 residential flats for people working in the park,” the representation stated. Parsvnath later floated the high-end Prideasia on the land meant for the IT habitat.

It noted that the 123-acre habitat was conceived to provide living spaces for IT professionals. This was presented to Parliament as the raison d'etre of the IT habitat as was clear from a report of the parliamentary standing committee on the demand for grants (2007-08) of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Lisiting various acts of omission and commission of the administration, the representation claimed that in the contractual documents, the administration did not specify that the habitat apartments were being developed and priced in a manner that people working at the IT park would be able to afford them.

“The administration withdrew it to determine the selling price in consultation with the developer by stating during the pre-bid conference on February 7, 2006, that the selling price would be determined by the developer,” it stated.

The representation alleged that while the administration was telling Parliament that this project was for people working at the IT park, it was manipulating project guidelines so that the private developer would be able to maximise his profit by developing an elite housing project for the wealthy.

WORK ON RS 50,000-CRORE NANOCITY PROJECT HALTED
Abhijit Prashar, Chandigarh
The Pioneer

Work on the much-hyped Rs 50,000 crore Nanocity project near Chandigarh has hit a dead-end as Parsvnath Developers, one of the major stakeholders in the project, have developed cold feet and no longer want to work on the project.

In June last year, Parsvnath Developers had taken 38 percent stake in Nano City Haryana Ltd and announced that it would invest Rs 400 crore as equity and debt for the project. The proposed project was to be developed on 11,138 acres of land and was scheduled to be completed in 10 years. But even after three years of negotiations, the project is yet to see the light of day.

In November 2006, HSIIDC and Nanoworks Developers had signed a joint venture to set up the city in Panchkula, just outside Chandigarh. A site for the project was identified and the joint venture announced with much fanfare. Now, three years down the road, the project is yet to have even started with basic acquisitions.

Sources in the industry say that with the receding real estate market, the financial health of Parsvnath Developers had taken a major hit. It is reported that the company’s profit margins have shrunk from Rs 2.5 crore to less than Rs 60 lakh in less than two years. Also, the company’s other major project Pride Asia, in collaboration with Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) at Rajiv Gandhi Information Technology (IT) Park, is in the midst of a controversy over failure to clear existing dues.