SHRIRAM PROPERTIES TO INVEST RS 4,900 CRORE IN 3 YEARS
T E Narasimhan, Chennai, July 27, 2009
Business Standard
Shriram Properties, part of Chennai-headquartered diversified Shriram Group, is planning to invest around Rs 4,900 crore in various residential and commercial projects.
Shriram Properties managing director M Murali said that the company had set a target to become Rs 1,000 crore company over the next three years from the present Rs 450 crore.
Speaking about commercial projects, Murali said that so far the company was promoting IT/ITeS projects and delivered one million sq.ft. currently construction is going on at eight lakh sq.ft of land near Chennai. The company also got an approval to pro-mote a special economic zone for IT/TeS in Kolkata. Total investment in the proposed project would be around Rs 1,200 crore.
HELIPADS, SKYWALKS PLANNED AT MUKESH AMBANI PROMOTED SEZS
New Delhi, July 27, 2009
The Economic Times Business Standard
Mukesh Ambani-promoted Navi Mumbai SEZ Private Ltd has sought government permission to set up helipads and skywalks at its Special Economic Zones on the outskirts of the metropolis.
The SEZ firm co-promoted by Ambani's close associate Anand Jain has plans to build helipad at four and skywalks at five of its Special Economic Zones at Navi Mumbai.
As per the proposals submitted before the BoA, the helipads will come up in the "non-processing" areas of the three SEZs for IT and ITES, and one for the multi-services.
Three of these are located at Ulwe, and one at Kalamboli -- both in the Navi Mumbai area.
VIDEOCON GROUP PLANS NEW INVESTMENT PUSH FOR Q2
Mona Mehta, Mumbai, July 27, 2009
The Financial Express
The Videocon Group is charting out a fresh investment outlay for Q2 2009-10 to the tune of Rs 700 crore to grow its oil business. The group is planning to infuse Rs 100 crore this year to expand its retail business, apart from Rs 500 crore in new real estate projects over the next four years.
This is to revive the company's dented bottomline to the tune of 70% for the fourth quarter ended 2008-09. "The decision comes at a time when oil prices has touched 65 dollars a barrel in Q1 2009-10, as compared to 145 dollars in October 2008," Videocon Industries chief financial officer S M Hegde said.
TWO YEARS OF WAIT FOR AN ALLOTMENT LETTER
Chandigarh, July 27, 2009
The Indian Express
For two years now, Tech Mahindra has been running from pillar to post for allotment letter for 5 acres of land the company was allotted in August 2007.
Despite several communiqués exchanged between the company and the UT Administration, the letter seems to be stuck in bureaucratic wrangles and red-tapism.
"It has been almost two years now that we are waiting for the allotment letter. Despite several reminders to the Administration, nothing seems to be moving," Ranjit Puri of Tech Mahindra said.
Puri confirmed that the company hasn't received the allotment letter yet — the company had deposited Rs 50 lakh for it on September 18, 2007.
The allotment letter was to be issued by the Estate Office on receipt of the Rs 50 lakh, but it wasn't.
After two years, the 'tech-savvy' Administration, which boasts of promoting IT companies in Rajiv Gandhi Chandigarh Technology Park, says the letter is "under process".
There was some confusion in the Finance department, which has been cleared now. The letter is under process and should be issued soon," Director (IT) Manjit Singh Brar said.
The land in question is next to the 10 acres of land allotted to the company on May 26, 2006. The company had requested for this additional 5 acres, as it considered it useful for its operations.
And as the 10 acres was allotted under the Special Economic Zone, the company exercised the option to get the plot converted into leasehold on November 13, 2006. The lease deed for the plot was signed on April 15, 2009.
Also, despite the company submitting its building plans for the 10 acres of land in October 2006, they were approved after around seven months — on May 17, 2007 — by a committee chaired by the UT Finance Secretary.
INFRASTRUCTURE WORK AT SIPCOT IT PARK PROGRESSING: STALIN
Chennai, July 27, 2009
The Hindu
Work on the creation of infrastructure at the SIPCOT (State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu) Information Technology Park in Siruseri is progressing at a brisk pace.
In 1998, the SIPCOT had established the park in Siruseri on the Rajiv Gandhi Road on 782 acres of land, said Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, speaking at the inauguration of a 9-km arterial road in the park here on Sunday. So far, 490 acres of land had been allotted to 70 units, he said. Twenty units had formed their facilities with an investment of Rs. 10,000 crore and had begun their operations. About 30,000 persons had been provided direct employment in these units, and about 70,000 persons got indirect employment, he said. Construction work on 34 units was going on, he said.
The economic downturn had a lesser impact on India compared to the rest of the world, and on Tamil Nadu it did not have too much impact. The industrial progress was on track, he said. In the IT Park, five industrial houses, including Tata Consultancy Services, Xansa and Cognizant, had formed special economic zones and created facilities with an investment of Rs. 7,000 crore, he said. Tata Consultancy Services had created the biggest IT Park in Asia with an investment of Rs. 2,000 crore, he added.
TECH TURF
Nageshwar Patnaik & Sutanuka Ghosal, July 27, 2009
The Economic Times (Kolkata edition)
These days AK Panda, Orissa's head of IT promotion, leads a supercharged team specially created to get NRIs, particularly non-resident Oriyas (NROs), to invest in the state. Not only does he maintain a fat logbook of prospective investors, his colleagues are forever exhorting rich NROs living in some of the world's IT meccas to look homeward. Chasing NRIs and NROs, especially those in Silicon Valley, to hardsell Orissa as an IT investment destination is top priority for Panda & Co.
Their unalloyed mission — bringing in as many investors as possible for charging up Orissa's IT/ITeS turf. Panda's immediate target is ensuring the state achieves $1 billion in IT exports by calender 2012. At present, Orissa's software exports are a shade over Rs 1000 crore.
And playing lead IT evangelist is Orissa CM Naveen Patnaik, who has urged his IT department to leave no stone unturned in bolstering the state's IT infrastructure. If anything, the sense of optimism is instantly palpable the minute you step inside the state IT department.
Not only is Orissa's IT secretary PK Mohapatra gung ho on Bhubaneswar's prospects as a future IT hotspot, even World Bank sees Orissa as a top investment destination in eastern India.
Evidently, the Orissa government has realised the crying need to market Bhubaneswar as an IT hub. Which is why, it is participating in all high-profile tech events. From the CeBIT fair in Germany in March 2009, the Orissa government will next showcase the state's strenghts in IT/ITeS realm at the GITEX mega technology event in Dubai this October.
Orissa is also poised to unveil its new Information & Communication Technology (ICT) Policy, 2009. "We've set up a committee with representatives from the state government, IT industry and the academia who are going through the ICT policy of other states before finalising Orissa's own IT policy. Our officials are also interacting with US-based software firms to get a fix on IT proliferation there," says Panda.
Suparno Moitra, Nasscom regional manager (East) feels the Orissa government should continue working towards increasing the visibility of the location as a potential IT-BPO destination. Fostering IT entrepreneurship is another area, which is being strongly pursued by the Orissa government to attract small and medium sized investors. "Mentoring is crucial to attract SME players into the state IT sector. We are organising seminars across the state to attract local entrepreneurs," notes Panda.
Initiatives taken by the Naveen Patnaik government are already bearing fruit. Orissa's IT/ITeS units have collectively posted an impressive growth in software and IT services exports in 2008-09. Exports grew by 39.05 percent over the earlier year's exports (Rs 840 crore). In fact, software exports from Orissa for the first time raced past the Rs 1,000 crore-mark even amid one of the worst recessions in recent memory. Orissa achieved gross software exports of Rs 1,168 crore and now finds a place in the country's Top 10 software exporter pack. "We will witness a similar growth in the current fiscal this year too," says a beaming Panda.
Kerala and Gujarat are the only other states in the Rs 1,000 crore-plus software exports category, which have higher growth levels than Orissa in 2008-09. The national average growth in 2008-09 stood at nearly 21 percent.
Over 70 IT/ITeS units registered under the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) in Bhubaneswar are operating in the vicinity of the temple town from various IT zones. And another 20 are in the process of setting up new campuses at various IT zones in the city.
Other IT/BPO firms operate either from the STPI incubation space or from rented premises. Among the biggies operational are Infosys, TCS, Mahindra Satyam and Wipro. Companies which aspire to expand and are doing well are Mindfire Solutions, ESS, CSM Technology, Aabsys, JSS, Medwrite and many more.
Those planning to take big strides in the state include MindTree Consulting, Genpact, Zensar, STG Chips, Perfectus Technology and ICICI.
Interestingly, Infocity II, which has been rechristened Infovalley, and is spread over 400 acres-plus, will be the largest IT SEZ in the eastern region. Infrastructure linkages like road, electricity and water-supply are now being worked out at an estimated Rs 150 crore to make it an integrated knowledge township.
Three other IT SEZs in Orissa have received central approval. Though one of these, the DLF Infopark, has sought a de-notification, it is anticipated to come up soon with a proposal of setting up a world-class IT Park under the STPI scheme.
Thirty acres have been identified for Mindspace IT SEZ close to the Mancheswar Industrial Estate, Bhubaneswar. The state government is also considering setting up the first IT Investment Region (ITIR) in Orissa and IL&FS has been engaged for conducting the techno economic feasibility survey.
