Latest Property News on 'Special Economic Zones'

Kudos in line on inflation management

The RBI’s Annual Credit Policy has come and gone and the markets and the economy are reacting to the initiatives of the RBI. It is obvious that the Governor/RBI has been proved correct in his judgment of the inflationary potential in the economy and his measures to raise the CRR before the credit policy were, indeed, well-timed. Hats off to him! I propose to devote this piece to an analysis of the document on macroeconomic and monetary developments for 2007-08 issued by the RBI just before the announcement of the Annual Monetary Policy statement for 2008-09.

The centre piece of the discussion is obviously on various macroeconomic aggregates, including, in particular, the growth of credit and money supply. But there are some details that bear detailed scrutiny. The total growth of bank credit as on January 16, 2007 was 30.1 per cent, while that in February 2008 was 22 per cent. The decrease in credit has not led to a decrease in inflationary potential. In fact, the latter period saw a higher increase in price inflation. Read More »

Finolex to Sell Pune SEZ Land for Rs 400 cr

Finolex Industries, part of the diversified Finolex group, has decided to sell off its special economic zone (SEZ) plot at Chinchwad near Pune. It is close to signing a deal with a US-based developer to sell the land for between Rs 350 crore and Rs 400 crore.

For close to a year, the Rs 950 crore maker of PVC pipes and fittings had been weighing two options for the 78-acre plot — either to develop it as an information technology SEZ or dispose it off completely and unlock the value of the land. A source close to the company said: “We were earlier in talks with companies in the Middle East and the United States to jointly develop an IT SEZ there, but the management has finally decided to dispose it of.” Read More »

Decision on 12 Goa SEZs June 4

The central government will take a decision next month on the 12 approved special economic zones (SEZs) of Goa as the state is up in arms against them. “We will call them (developers) for a hearing at the next meeting June 4 and then will take a decision on those 12 SEZs,” G.K. Pillai, Secretary of the ministry of commerce and industry, told reporters here.

“The Board of Approvals - BOA - (for SEZ) has already issued show-cause notices (to the developers),” Pillai added. So far, three SEZs in Goa have been notified by the government - the Mumbai-based real estate major Raheja’s IT SEZ, pharmaceutical major Cipla’s project, and Peninsula Pharma’s biotech SEZ. Read More »

Uppal to Invest Rs 8,000 cr in 4 SEZs

Real estate firm Uppal Group is planning to invest over Rs 8,000 crore in the next five years to develop four special economic zones and two hotels in the north India. The Delhi-based company has already received the notification for two SEZs in Gurgaon, while it has got the formal approval for two SEZs planned in Uttar Pradesh.

“Infrastructure work has already started on the 263 acre multi-service SEZ in Gurgaon where we will develop 22 million sq ft in different phases,” said the Uppal CEO (SEZs and Hotels) Gian Bansal. Read More »

Tata to Develop Rs 30 bn IT SEZ in Chennai

Tata Realty and Infrastructure Ltd (TRIL) announced an agreement with Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) to jointly develop an IT special economic zone (SEZ) at a cost of Rs 30 billion (nearly $750 million) here.

Located on a 25-acre plot in Taramani, the SEZ will include a five-star hotel or service apartments, an international convention centre and help generate direct employment for 40,000 people and indirect employment to another 15,000. Read More »

Mahindra’s Jaipur SEZ to become partly operational from July

The Special Economic Zone being developed by Mahindra’s at Jaipur will become partly operational in July with first group of clients moving in, a top official said on Friday. Mahindra Lifespace Developers, the real estate and infrastructure development arm of the USD 6 billion Mahindra group, has also started buying land at Karla, near Pune, for an SEZ project, Arun Nanda, vice-chairman of the company told reporters while releasing financial results here today.

The company has managed to get a premium of 20 to 40 per cent over the current market rate for some of its residential projects in Mumbai and Faridabad, he said. The company has an estimated land bank of 35 million sq ft across the country and expanding to new places like Nashik and Nagpur, he said. Read More »

Residential Enclaves on the Lines of SEZs Proposed To Beat Slowdown

After special economic zones (SEZ), it’s now the turn of special residential zones (SRZ). The government is considering a proposal from real estate developers to set up SRZs outside the main cities. These SRZs are also proposed to be given tax benefits on the lines of SEZs. Developers say SRZs would help them build and sell affordable houses for as low as one-third of the existing price to low-income groups, although SRZs wouldn’t be limited to low-income houses alone.

Commerce minister Kamal Nath has already had talks with real estate developers regarding setting up of SRZs. “The special residential zones have been conceived by the developers on the lines of SEZs with tax benefits and single-window clearance. The proposal is being actively looked into by the government. The government would require time to devise the modalities as tax incentives to SRZs would mean an additional burden on the exchequer,” a commerce ministry official said. Read More »

Noida SEZ has no Room for New Units

Noida, which has become the hub of export units, has lately attracted such a large number of units that Noida Special Export Zone (NSEZ) has no more room to accommodate new units aspiring to set up shop in NSEZ.

This has happened for the first time in last 23 years. Set up in 1985, Noida Export Promotion Zone (NEPZ) was converted into a Noida Special Economic Zone by the government two years ago. Read More »

Indus to Buy Rs 206 Crore Equity in Uppal SEZS

US-based hedge fund Indus Capital Partners is investing Rs 206 crore for equity stake in the two special economic Zones (SEZs) of Delhi-based real estate developer Uppal Group. “Indus Capital is buying a 25% stake in our Noida SEZ for Rs 100 crore and 50% in Greater Noida SEZ for Rs 106 crore,” Uppal Group director (finance) Ajay Mangal said.

Uppal group, which is developing four SEZs in the national capital region (NCR), had earlier received an investment of Rs 300 crore each from realty trust Vornado and investment firm Trinity Capital for its two other SEZ projects. The group would require a total investment of around Rs 8,000 crore for its four SEZ projects over the next five to seven years. Read More »

Singapore’s Ascendas fund in $290 mln India JV

Singapore-based industrial property developer Ascendas said on Wednesday that its private property fund Ascendas India Development Trust has entered a joint venture to develop a $290 million project.

The 50-50 joint venture with India real estate fund IREO will develop an IT Special Economic Zone and a mixed-use development totaling 53 acres in Coimbatore in the state of Tamil Nadu, the unlisted developer said in a statement.