REAL ESTATE DEVELOPERS REVIEW IT SEZ PROJECTS
Namrata Acharya & Sohini Das, Kolkata, June 01, 2009
Business Standard
With slowing exports, real estate developers are putting IT special economic zones (SEZs) plans on the back-burner.
Already real estate major DLF has sought de-notification of four SEZs across the country, including one in Kolkata, citing reasons of slowdown in the IT sector. According to industry observers, many local real estate developers were likely to follow suit. Kolkata-based PS Group, which planned to develop a 25-acre SEZ at Rajarhat, is no longer going ahead with the project, said Pradeep Chopra of PS Group. The Kolkata-based developer had projected an investment of Rs 200 crore in the SEZ. The company has so far been able to acquire only four acres for the project.
"We have now decided to convert the entire project into a residential one, due to the economic slowdown and land acquisition problems," said Pradeep Chopra. Abhijeet Das, joint managing director, Lemongrass Advisors, said, "The whole idea behind the de-notification of DLF SEZ was to widen the scope for inviting more companies to set up offices in the space." State IT minister Debesh Das admitted that IT exports from West Bengal were indeed down and that de-notification of IT SEZs was on the rise. "Realty is slowly picking up and many developers are now pitching for residential and commercial complexes", Das said.
From TCS, Wipro, Infosys to HCL, Patni and Cognizant, companies are now scrambling to raise their share in the domestic software and IT services pie, valued at Rs 58,000 crore. According to industry insiders their earnings from the domestic market have been less than 10 percent. "The meltdown has forced many US, European and Japanese giants to pare their IT budgets that is hitting the Indian firms hard.
These IT companies have never really focussed on marketing their products and services in the domestic market", Das said who felt that there was a lot of scope in mobile phone software development together with software and technical support for domestic telecom and banking call centres. However, developers whose SEZ projects are not due for completion in the near future, are still bullish on their projects.
For example, Riverside Developers Pvt Ltd, which is planning a SEZ project at its proposed township at Batanagar, is going ahead with the IT SEZ in it, as it is due for completion only in the first quarter of 2011. "We do not see any need for de-notification of our SEZ, as it is due for completion only in 2011," said, Sumit Dabriwal, managing director of Riverside Developers Pvt Ltd. As is Infinity Infotech Parks Limited that is developing the 122 acre ‘Kolkata IT SEZ’ at Bantala.
DLF PLEA TO DENOTIFY SEZ LAND IN GANDHINAGAR: CENTRE TO DECIDE ON JUNE 2
Gaurav Sharma, Ahmedabad, June 01, 2009
The Indian Express
The Board of Approval (BoA) in the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India, will take a final decision on June 2 on the de-notification application filed by realty major, DLF, pertaining to its SEZ (special economic zone) in Gandhinagar.
The state government, however, continues to maintain a stoic silence on the issue.
DLF wanted to set up an Information Technology SEZ but later changed its plan and sought de-notification of land instead. This, even when Gujarat’s secretary for Science and Technology, Raj Kumar, had admitted to this newspaper, as reported on January 21, 2009, that “some parties might have some malicious intentions while proposing an IT/ITES SEZ”.
Kumar, while acknowledging that majority of the proposed IT/ITES SEZ in the state were being developed by real estate companies (at least 12 out of the 16 proposals approved so far), had said, “In Gujarat, we follow the ‘New Tenure Land’ policy that makes it clear that no company is given full possession of the allotted land.”
He had said: “Failure to fulfil the time-bound terms and conditions of the SEZ Act and non-implementation of the proposed IT/ITES SEZ would lead to cancellation of the land allotment. This land would then be acquired by the government, setting aside all the real estate ambitions of the developers, if any.”
G I Desai, Deputy Commissioner, Industries Commissionerate, Gujarat, refused to confirm media reports that the government has issued a ‘no objection’ to DLF’s Information Technology SEZ de-notification.
He said, “A senior government official will put forward our stand before the BoA on Tuesday.”
Raj Kumar, while refusing to comment on the de-notification issue, said: “The Industries Commissionerate will decide on that. On our part, we are only concerned that IT/ITES related activities are performed on the designated land and as DLF has assured us to develop an ‘IT Park’ instead of an ‘IT SEZ’, we have no issues.”
The Export Promotion Council (EPC) for EOUs & SEZ Units, Ministry of Commerce, Government of India, has supported the de-notification demand of the reality major only if it refunds all the duty-free benefits claimed.
L B Singhal, Director General, EPC, when contacted, reiterated, “All those who want to exit the SEZ sector should be allowed to do so but only when the government has recovered all the subsidies extended in the name of SEZ policy.”
GOVT MULLS IT PARK FOR SOFTWARE COMPANIES
Lucknow, May 31, 2009
The Times of India
The state government is mulling to set up an IT park for small and medium scale software companies on the Lucknow-Kanpur Road under the Lucknow Industrial Development Authority (LIDA).
On Saturday, principal secretary, information technology, Chandra Prakash met a delegation of Indian Industries Association (IIA) and asked it to submit background papers for the same. The principal secretary also asked the association to come up with details for setting up an IT application software/solutions for micro & small sector.
Executive director, IIA, DS Verma said that they would be doing their bit soon. Besides, the delegation also discussed the use of IT for disseminating updated, relevant and accurate information to the investors in UP. ‘‘The two-fold objective was to find ways and means to facilitate the much-desired investment in the industries of the state by sustaining the existing investment as well as attracting the potential investors from India and abroad in a big way,’’ Verma said.
The association also discussed the matters related to maintenance of web sites of industry related departments of the state government. Verma said that the web enabled single table system developed by IIA should be made operational again and implemented in right earnest.
The issue of e-tendering system was taken up at the meeting even as IIA sought introduction of the system by all departments. The IIA has also offered to develop and maintain a dedicated web facility for circulars, orders and notifications related to industry without any charge, provided they are made available to IIA in soft copy, as soon as they are released. The principal secretary is reported to have expressed his desire to continue the dialogue with IIA during the first week of June.