IT SEZ Real Estate Updates: 05/06/09

 

BENGAL IT DEPT SHORTLISTS 3 COS FOR RS 5000 CRORE KALYANI PROJECT
Kolkata
Business Standard

Three companies--Mahindra Lifespace, Raheja group, and Paharpur Cooling Towers--have evinced interest in the Rs 5,000 crore Kalyani Infotech Park, following a tender floated by the West Bengal Electronics Industry Development Corporation Ltd (Webel), the state's nodal IT agency.

State IT department sources said, "The three shortlisted bidders are Mahindra Lifespace, a Mahindra & Mahindra group company, Paharpur Cooling Towers and K Raheja Corp, owners of Shoppers Stop. We hope to finalise the private partner from the shortlisted bidders by June."

The 100 acre IT park is expected to be operational in five years from the zero date.

Webel floated the tender on September 12, inviting expression of interest (EOI) for the proposed IT park at Kalyani to be developed in public-private partnership mode. The department received several bids but shortlisted three firms.

The state needs to augment its infrastructure, around 30 new IT companies have come to Bengal in the first half of this year till date, mainly export oriented, for which infrastructure would have to be upgraded, said Debesh Das, state IT minister.

At present, the total IT space available for the IT/ITES industry in the state was about 7-8 million square feet of office space and another 20 million square feet of office space was currently under construction dedicated exclusively for the IT industry, which will be added over the next 2-3 years' time.

“With the financial meltdown, the completion date might be delayed by another year or two,” said Das.

One of the main problems because of which many of the IT projects in Bengal had made little progress was inability to get land.

Wipro and Infosys signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with the state government last year but were yet to get possession of the 90-acre land (each) that they sought for. “The department is in the process of getting the land. It will take some time,” said Das. In 2007, DLF had announced it would develop a state-of-the art world class facility on 25 acres for IT/ITeS workspace. The project had got SEZ status, but the company has applied for a denotification and has been allowed to go forth with the IT projects sans SEZ status.

“Definitely infrastructure projects are going slow in the state because of the recession, but DLF's decision to denotify the Rajarhat IT SEZ project will not affect infrastructure scenario. Now the company will get more domestic clients in place of those involved in IT exports, a major requisite for SEZs. Both ways, we stand to gain. Sector V is not an SEZ, but it has attracted many a big players,” said Das.

UP GOVT URGED TO SET UP IT PARK FOR SMES
Virendra Singh Rawat, New Delhi/Lucknow
Business Standard

The information technology industry in Uttar Pradesh has urged the government to set up an IT park in the Lucknow Industrial Development Authority (Lida).

Since, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) account for over 60 percent of state industries, the industry wants the IT Park to be dedicated to the sector.

Besides, the industry wants simpler registration process for the Software Technology Park of India (STPI) and subsidy for IT solutions for medium small and micro enterprises (MSMEs).

“The STPI registration process is very cumbersome. Despite India’s big domestic IT market, there is no technology park exclusively for the SME IT companies. There is need to develop such an IT park at Lida,” Indian Industries Association executive director DS Verma said.

Lida is a proposed industrial enclave along the Lucknow-Kanpur highway. The corridor is likely to give a major fillip to the industrial and commercial development in the region on the lines of Noida.

IIA proposes to take up massive awareness campaign on IT use among MSMEs in collaboration with industry associations and solution providers. Recently, an IIA delegation met UP principal secretary - IT department, Chandra Prakash to discuss IT use for disseminating updated, relevant and accurate information to the investors in UP.

“The objective was to find ways and means to facilitate the much-desired investment in UP by attracting potential investors from India and abroad,” Verma added.

During a recent visit to Lucknow, S Ramadorai, managing director and CEO of Tata Consultancy Services, also called for 'proactive steps' by Uttar Pradesh to develop Lucknow as an IT hub. According to Ramadorai, the city has the potential to emerge as an IT hub as 12 percent of India’s top-of-line IT professionals come from this part of the country.

SEZ DECISION: MATANHY SLAMS CENTRE
Panaji
The Times of India

Even as the state government remained tightlipped over the Centre's decision to allow the K Raheja group more time to develop their special economic zone (SEZ) in Goa, official sources said the government will once again approach the Centre and urge it to denotify the notified SEZs in Goa.

Reacting to the Centre's latest decision, Matanhy Saldanha, the convenor of Goa's Movement Against SEZ (GMAS) said the Union commerce secretary G K Pillai "was playing his own games".

Saldanha said the state government had all along said it did not want SEZs in Goa and that the former commerce minister Kamal Nath had also said the Centre would not thrust SEZs on Goa. "It is Pillai that is misleading everybody," he said.

In Goa, the K Raheja group was planning of developing an IT/ITES SEZ in an area of 107.17 ha at Verna with an investment of Rs 1723.41 crore. The other two SEZs in Goa are Meditab Specialities Private Limited's pharma SEZ at Bhutkhamb in Keri, and Peninsula Pharma Research Centre Private Limited's R & D Biotech Park/SEZ at Sancoale.

 

IT SEZ Real Estate: 04/06/09

 

IT PARK: A DREAM GONE AWRY
Smriti Sharma, Chandigarh
The Tribune

City’s much-hyped IT Park can perhaps be termed as an ambitious project going awry, for ever since its on a roll, nothing seems to be going right with it. For the UT’s estate office is set to serve notices on nine non-IT firms for misusing built-up spaces in Phase-I meant only for the IT firms. After hitting series of “roadblocks”, including many IT firms pulling out and non-IT firms entering in, now the UT estate office is also contributing its share.

These identified non-IT firms in the Chandigarh Technology Park are Information TV, Piccadly Agro, Reli Solutions, Richy Infotech, Spencer’s Solutions, Trigna, Surgose and the DLF.

Despite being in the know of things for past several months, estate officials maintain that due to the shortage of manpower and means it was not possible for them to identify the non-IT firms.

“The manpower that we have to keep a check on whether the company happens to be IT or non-IT was unable to find out the company’s profiles. So, finally we had to ask the DIT to help identify the firms for us. A joint team was the formed to do the needful,” said Ashwini Kumar, AEO. “By evening today, notices would be served on the firms”, he added.

While it is surprising that the primary goal with which the IT park was conceptualised, was to generate jobs at the highest levels for the youth of the region. The fact can well be gauged from the brochure that was released by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh at the time of the IT Park’s inauguration in 2005.

At that time it, the officials of the UT administration had visualised that by the end of three years, it would be able to providing jobs to 25,000 youths and more. But, so far not more than 10,000 youths have got employment.

In July 2008, the department of information and technology, UT, had also served a notice on DLF developers for leasing out built-up space to non-IT companies in the IT Park. The department had sought a status report on the non-IT activity in the IT Park.

It’s almost eight year since the land was acquired for the three- phase IT park in 2000 till 2005 when it was inaugurated by the Prime Minister, IT park is yet to be, what can be termed as become “fully functional”.

While nearly 16 IT companies were to set up their offices in the IT Park initially, most of them never turned up for various reasons.

The department had also written to the estate officer to initiate action against the real estate developer for violating the terms and conditions of the Chandigarh Sales of Sites and Allotment Rules. As per the allotment rules, the built-up space can only be leased out to those companies that deal with IT and IT-enabled services.

UT’S LOPSIDED VISION CREATED HURDLES
Smriti Sharma, Chandigarh
The Tribune

While the UT administration may tout the Rajiv Gandhi Chandigarh Technology Park as one of its major achievements, in reality till date, it has not only failed to realize its full potential thanks to the lopsided vision of the powers that be, but have also given rise to numerous other problems which couldn’t be envisioned at that time.

From farmers crying hoarse over low compensation for their land acquired for the IT Park to the disinterest shown by the IT firms in establishing their setups, entry of the non-IT firms, growing discontentment among industrialists who paid crores for conversion of their plots under the UT’s conversion policy while the non-IT firms took over the premises in the IT Park, their commercial space in industrial area is still waiting for corporates to set up. All this, coupled with the recession- hit IT industry has proved to be a big blow for the aspirations with which the IT Park was set up.

While the land acquisition for Phase I was done much earlier, where nearly 80,000 sq ft was given to DLF for ready-to-built in sites, its still not fully rented out. Despite this fact, the land was acquired for phase II and I as well. Of all 13 Phase I built-to-suit sites that were to be completed and occupied by April 2007, not a single one is complete - a state repeated in Phase II.

The Chandigarh administration criteria for the success of Phase I and II of the IT Park seem only till the allotment of land. While phase III should have only been planned if Phase I and II were successfully operational, not stopping at this, award for the acquired land nearly 272 acre for phase III has been announced already. Though it was projected that 67,000 IT professionals would be employed, the actual figures of only about 10,000 speak a lot about the planning that had gone in for this mega project, leaving much to be desired and looked into.

 

 

IT SEZ Updates : 03/06/09

 

DLF CAN DENOTIFY SEZS ON RETURNING TAX SOPS
New Delhi
Financial Chronicle  Hindustan Times (Delhi edition)  

The government has given an in-principle approval to real estate developer DLF for denotifying four of its special economic zones (SEZs) that it wants to surrender on the condition that all tax incentives given to the zones will be refunded.

The board of approvals (BoA) for these manufacturing hubs met on Tuesday and awarded formal approval to eight SEZ proposals and in-principle approval to two proposals.

DLF has said it owes the government Rs 6-7 crore in the form of tax exemptions given to its four SEZs, according to a commerce department official who did not want to named. "We have to verify that amount. A formal denotification of the SEZs will be done after the due taxes are paid to the government," the official said.

The listed real estate developer has decided to apply for denotification of its SEZs in Gujarat, Haryana, West Bengal and Orissa because it feels these projects are no longer feasible due to the economic slowdown and the liquidity crunch the company is facing.

DLF had received approval for 15 SEZs all of which are in the information technology (IT) and infotech-enabled services (ITeS) sector. Of these, five are operational and another five are in the process of being established.

The company had surrendered one SEZ near Delhi in December 2008. Of the 18 proposals BoA discussed on Tuesday, it gave formal approval to eight SEZs, including three for biotech in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra and another three for IT and ITeS in Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

Two proposals that received in-principle approval are for setting up multi-products SEZs in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. A formal approval to set up these zones would be given once the developers take possession of the land. The board extended the formal approval to projects of 21 SEZ developers that could not meet the completion deadline.

The applications of two others, including Videocon Realty, for an extension of approval, were rejected as that they had not begun the process of acquiring land, the official said.

DLF TO GO AHEAD WITH FOUR IT PROJECT SANS SEZ STATUS
Maulik Pathak, Ahmedabad
Business Standard  The Hindu Business Line  Financial Chronicle  

DLF is planning to go ahead with its four IT park projects in Gujarat, Haryana, Orissa and West Bengal, sans the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) status.

A DLF official confirmed the news and said, while the projects could see a further delay of six-eight months, they are still very much on. The company may, meanwhile, change the land-use pattern also, making more room for housing and commercial activities.

“The Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) status is likely to be extended and this makes good business sense to keep our IT projects on for better times. The investment and size of the projects remain unchanged as of now,” DLF’s Executive Director Y K Tyagi said.

DLF had planned 25-acre IT parks in Gandhinagar, Sonepat, Bhubaneswar and Kolkata.

In Gandhinagar, the company had been allotted 25 acres of government land at subsidised rates. DLF had recently communicated to the state IT department that it aims to use 50 percent of the land for IT/ITeS (IT-enabled Services), while the balance would be used for residential/commercial purposes. “DLF has shown interest in continuing with the IT project in Gandhinagar. We will let them keep the land for the project,” said a senior government official.

Once a developer gets an SEZ notification for an IT park, it has to develop 2 lakh sq ft in the first 18 months. DLF failed to do so and, hence, it requested the Centre to scrap the SEZ status, sources said.

The Gandhinagar project was to be completed by January 2009 and had been projected to create 2.5 million sq ft of workspace. DLF had chalked out an investment plan of Rs 850 crore for the Gujarat project. The real estate major was aiming to draw companies like IBM, Cognizant, Mphasis and Symantec to its park, government sources said. It had also been aiming to lease out as less as 5,000 sq ft to accommodate local players, including entrepreneurs, according to sources close to the development.

GOVT CLEARS NINE SEZS; MOST BELONG TO IT/ITES
New Delhi
Mint  The Economic Times  The Pioneer  The Tribune  Deccan Herald  The Hindu  The Asian Age  The Financial Express  The Times of India  Mail Today  

The government Tuesday cleared nine fresh proposals for setting up special economic zones, most of which related to IT and ITES, followed by the bio-technology sector.

The Board of Approval in the Commerce Ministry gave green signal to Gulf Oil Corporation, L & T, Emaar MGF and MM Tech to set up IT/ITES tax-free enclave in Bangalore, Mumbai, and Chenagamanadu (Kerala), respectively.

Three bio-technology SEZs have been sanctioned for Bangalore, Anantpur (Andhra Pradesh) and Ratnagiri (Maharashtra).

Besides, two multi-product and multi-services SEZs would come up at Kotamandal in Andhra Pradesh and Nasik in Maharashtra.

Since 2006, when the SEZ Act was notified, formal approvals have been granted for setting up 568 SEZs, of which 315 have been notified.

Exports from SEZs grew by 36% to Rs 90,416 crore in 2008-09 from Rs 66,638 crore in the previous fiscal.

L&T INFOTECH SEZ AMONG 8 PROPOSALS OKAYED
New Delhi
The Hindu Business Line

The Board of Approval for SEZs on Tuesday granted formal nod to eight special economic zones, including Larsen & Toubro-promoted SEZ for information technology/ITeS, and in-principle nod to two others.

At its first meeting after the elections, the BoA, headed by the Commerce Secretary, Gopal K. Pillai, considered 18 proposals for establishing SEZs. Among the eight SEZs, three are biotech related — one each in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra — three for IT/ITeS in Kerala, and one each in Karnataka and Maharasthra. In the case of in-principle approvals, one is to come up in Andhra Pradesh and the other in Maharashtra for a multi-product SEZ.

SHYAM STEEL TO INVEST RS 500 CRORE FOR IT SEZ IN CITY
Sutanuka Ghoshal & Rakhi Mazumdar, Kolkata
The Economic Times (Kolkata edition)

At a time when West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s industrialisation drive has come under cloud, Shyam Steel Ltd, which is setting up a 1.1 million tonne steel plant in the state has just decided to invest Rs 500 crore for setting up an IT SEZ near Kolkata.

The company’s proposal has been placed before the Board of Approvals (BoA) under the commerce ministry for an in-principle approval.

“We have submitted a proposal to set up an IT SEZ near Barasat, which is close to Kolkata. We hope to get all necessary approvals before going ahead with our plans to set up IT infrastructure and export oriented IT units including call centres and BPO facilities,” Shyam Steel director Lalit Beriwala, said.

“Our foray into IT SEZ is part of our plans to diversify into information technology,” he added.

The IT SEZ, which is subject to approval from the commerce ministry, is slated to come up on some 25 acres. Shyam Steel had purchased the land for IT SEZ at Barasat, which falls under Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority, directly from landowners.

Shyam Steel is likely to float a subsidiary to take up the investment in the IT venture.

“We will route our investment through a new subsidiary. The company is open to the possibility of inviting a strategic partner for the venture,” he said. However, Beriwala said: “The proposal is at a nascent stage and we will apply our minds on this issue at an appropriate time.”

State IT minister Debesh Das said: “Many big IT players are still interested to come to Bengal and we expect that all the IT projects will happen in the state. The IT SEZs too will take shape.”

He pointed out that till date no IT projects have been stalled because of land issue.

“We have every intention to give land to Infosys, Wipro, ICICI, all who have approached us. We are in constant touch with them,” the minister said. However, the growth in employment in the IT sector this year is expected be less than 30 percent.

Meanwhile, West Bengal Electronics Industry Development Corporation (Webel) is all set to finalise a private partner for the proposed Rs 5,000-crore Kalyani Infotech Park within this month. Work at Videocon’s IT SEZ at Siliguri is also proceeding according to the scheduled timeline.

 

IT SEZ Updates: 02/06/09

GOVT TO CONSIDER 17 NEW SEZ PROPOSALS TOMORROW
New Delhi
Financial Chronicle  Mint  Deccan Herald  

The government will tomorrow consider proposals for setting up 17 special economic zones (SEZs), including those of Larsen and Toubro, Emaar MGF and Gulf Oil Corporation.

The Board of Approval (BoA), headed by Commerce Secretary G K Pillai, will also consider requests from realty major DLF for de-notification of its IT-ITeS SEZs in Gujarat, Haryana, West Bengal and Orissa.

"The developer (DLF) has requested for de-notification ... due to slowdown in the economy and liquidity crunch in the overall industry," the agenda document of the meeting said.

Scores of leading SEZ promoters, including Infosys Technologies, CMC Ltd, Hindalco Industries, NIIT Technologies, HCL Technologies, Orient Craft Infrastructure, L&T Phoenix Infoparks and K Raheja Corp, have sought time from the BoA, which is meeting here on June 2.

Larsen and Toubro has proposed to set up an IT SEZ in Mumbai, while Gulf Oil Corporation has moved application for a similar tax-free zone in Bangalore.

Other proposals for new SEZs include Emaar MGF's IT-related SEZ in Kerala.

Since 2006, when the SEZ Act was notified, formal approvals have been granted for setting up 568 SEZs, of which 315 have been notified.

Exports from SEZs grew 36 percent to Rs 90,416 crore in 2008-09 from Rs 66,638 crore in the previous fiscal.

TECOM SETS DEADLINE TO SORT OUT SMART CITY ISSUES
Kochi
The Hindu Business Line  Business Standard  

Tecom, promoters of the proposed Smart City Kochi project, has set a deadline before the State Government by December to sort out all issues that are creating hurdles in the progress of the project.

Fareed Abdulrahman, CEO the Smart City Kochi, said at a press meet here on Monday that the project could not afford any further delay and the State Government should take immediate steps to resolve the issue regarding the 12 percent freehold land before this year-end.

Smart City Kochi is entitled to 12 percent of freehold land and the company wanted a re-assurance from the State Government in this regard. Since the project was a joint venture with the State Government, both the stakeholders will have to sit together and find a solution, he added.

He pointed out that the company had insisted on freehold land as the lease agreement had to be split for securing SEZ status for the project land. Of the 246 acres, 136 acres had already received SEZ status in principle. The provision of freehold land has to be included in the lease agreement for the remaining 110 acres before it gets notified as SEZ since land once notified as SEZ cannot be de-notified for including fresh provisions, he said.

“We are very eager to start the project and can bring everything on track once we see positive signs. We will develop it and bring IT companies, create job and bring business to the city, which will boost the State’s economy,” he said.

The State Government should take a clear stand on the outstanding issues to move the project forward. However, they are not doing anything in this direction, he said, adding that constant communications with the State Government officials reached nowhere.

He also termed as ‘baseless’ the Chief Minister’s statement that Tecom had been hit by global economic recession. “The financial crisis is not at all an issue for Tecom. Honestly, I don’t know the basis for that statement,” he said.

SATYAM MAY MOVE OUT OF PUNE SEZ
Adith Charlie, Mumbai
The Hindu Business Line

Satyam Computer Services, now in the hands of Tech Mahindra, may move out of its 4,800-seater delivery centre in DLF Akruti Infopark, Pune.

This is part of a bigger plan to save over Rs 100 crore by consolidating infrastructure globally.

Satyam is in discussions with DLF Akruti to enable termination of its five-year lease- agreement in the IT park there, an official with knowledge of the development said.

“Reducing real estate costs is obviously a top priority issue for Satyam. Since we already have two other delivery centres in Pune, we will try and consolidate operations in those centres,” he said. “Satyam and DLF enjoy a very healthy relationship. And so do Tech Mahindra and DLF. Hence, we will try to offset costs at one place (for DLF) with opportunities elsewhere,” the official added.

Satyam had inaugurated its DLF Akruti Infopark facility last September. The facility has five floors in addition to the ground and mezzanine floors with a total built up area of approximately 4,00,000 sq.ft and with a floor plate of approximately 60,000 sq.ft.

It was established keeping in mind both Satyam`s overall employee base and projections of future growth. However, the Hyderabad-based company has lost more than 5,000 employees and 35 percent of its overall client base ever since its former chairman, Ramalinga Raju confessed to a Rs 7,800-crore fraud.

DLF Akruti Info Park is a joint venture SEZ project between Akruti City Ltd and DLF.

46 PROJECTS GET STATE CLEARANCE
Bangalore
Deccan Herald

The State-Level Single Window Clearance Committee (SLSWCC) has cleared 46 projects including eight IT parks and five in the aerospace sector with a total investment potential of Rs 1,000 crore and creating job opportunities for more than 15,000 people.

The committee under the chairmanship of Large and Medium Industries Minister Murgesh Nirani also cleared 18 sponge iron projects with an investment potential of Rs 592 crore, at its meeting on Saturday.

Murgesh Nirani told reporters in Bangalore on Monday that projects cleared include those in the IT, aerospace, energy, iron and steel sector besides chemicals and food industries.

The major IT park projects cleared include one on 9.04 acre plot at Gollahalli by United Micro Electronics Solutions and one by DRK Enterprises near IT park industrial area in Devanahalli (Rs 27 cr).

NO IMPACT OF SLOWDOWN ON SEZ OCCUPANCY: STATE IT MINISTER
Chennai
The Hindu

The current economic slowdown has not affected the occupancy of government-promoted IT Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in the State, said Poongothai Aladi Aruna, Tamil Nadu IT Minister, on Monday.

Talking to presspersons here, after a review meeting with the officials of the Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT), Dr. Poongothai said recruiting had been affected, but there were no job cuts in the IT industry.

While a cohesive national policy was required, Tamil Nadu was still well-placed as an IT destination, the Minister said.

She added that the IT SEZs in Chennai and Coimbatore would be ready by this December, and that work was progressing in the Tiruchi, Madurai, and Tirunelveli SEZs.

P.W.C.Davidar, IT secretary, said the government had decided to introduce electronic file processing in all departments soon. The software being created by ELCOT for the Commercial Taxes department was almost complete and would be released in July, he said.

Santhosh Babu, managing director, ELCOT, said the pilot project to provide handheld devices in ration shops for billing had been successful. Currently, 209 handheld devices were being used and this would be increased to over 1,000 in the coming month, he said.

THREE IT PARKS TO BE READY BY YEAR-END
Chennai
Deccan Chronicle, (Chennai edition)

Government-promoted IT parks in Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai would soon commence operations. “These parks will be ready for occupancy by the end of this year,” noted IT minister Poongothai Aladi Aruna, who held a review meeting with IT secretary P.W.C. Davidar and Elcot IT park managing director Santhosh Babu on Monday. The IT minister also noted that her team was evaluating places like Tiruchy, Hosur, Tirunelvelli, and Krishnagiri to set up IT parks.

“We are also looking at implementing the rural BPO scheme, which is currently available in Krishnagiri, in other parts of the state,” Aruna said, and refused to divulge details.

DLF, RAHEJA WANT TO SURRENDER SEZS
Mumbai
The Times of India

Till last year, Special Economic Zones (SEZs) were the flavour of the season. But for some developers, the downturn in the global economy is now forcing them to surrender their SEZs despite having received formal approvals from the Centre.

On Tuesday, the Board of Approval of the ministry of commerce and industry in Delhi will deliberate on half a dozen proposals by two developers construction giant DLF and the Mumbai-based K Raheja Universal to denotify their SEZs.

Both the developers have cited global slowdown in the IT sector as reasons for scrapping their SEZs. DLF, the country's largest real estate company, has requested the Board of Approval to denotify four of its approved SEZs 25 acres in Gujarat, 25 acres at Rai, Sonepat in Haryana, 25 acres in Kolkota and another 25 acres in Bhubaneswar in Orissa.

Raheja Universal controlled by Suresh Raheja, the youngest of the Raheja brothers who split about two decades ago, has requested the board to denotify its 50-acre IT/ITES SEZ in Navi Mumbai and also sought part denotification of a portion of its 30-acre SEZ in the same area.

According to sources, Raheja Universal approached the board with a proposal to surrender its SEZ, citing economic recession in the IT industry. The company has been selling of its land bank for the past several months now.

Last month, the realty company sold its Wallace Flour Mills property at Mazgaon for a substantial loss following pressure from a private bank to shore up its hefty loans.

In DLF's case, the board in its meeting on Tuesday will consider if the realty major had benefitted from the duty free benefits offered to SEZs and whether it should be returned to the government.

In Maharashtra, as many as 109 SEZs have received a formal go-ahead while another 35 have got in-principle approval by the union ministry of commerce and industry so far. Incidentally, Maharashtra has the largest number of SEZs in the country.

The SEZs, which have received formal approvals by the board of approvals in Delhi, are cases where the developers have got complete possession and ownership of the land to be developed.

Six of the approved SEZs are located in Mumbai itself. They are Hiranandani Builders' 31 acres proposed information technology (IT) zone at Powai, Royal Palms India's 24 acres (IT) in the heart of Aarey Milk Colony in Goregaon (east) and another 24 acres for a gems and jewellery SEZ in the same region, Chiplun Infrastructure's 99 acres (location not given) for a warehousing zone, Bombay Industrial Corporation's IT SEZ on 30 acres in Mahul and Ferrani Hotels Private Ltd/Ozone Developers 69 acres for a IT zone in Malad.

 

IT SEZ Updates: 01/06/09

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.