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Gurgaon News - 2004

Now, Haryana dreams of twin IT complex

After its cyber city project failed to take off, prompting it to hand it over to private hands, the Haryana government has come up with another grand plan — to build two multi-storeyed Information Technology and Telecommunication (ITT) complexes in Gurgaon. The complexes would be located in Udyog Vihar and Electronics City, considered IT hotspots in Gurgaon.

The proposed complexes, hyped as the largest-ever government initiative in the IT sector, were given the go-ahead in the meeting of the board of directors of the Haryana State Electronics Development Corporation (Hartron) on Thursday. They would be spread over an area of seven acres and are pegged to cost Rs 200 crore.

The state-owned Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC) and Hartron have agreed to pool in to make it a joint venture project on 50:50 equity share. Under the same board of directors, a new company, the Haryana Cyber City Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd, has already been formed in this regard, and the project would soon see the light of day, said R.K. Rao, Managing Director, Hartron.

‘‘Besides the two corporations, funds would be sought from the National Capital Region fund and term loans from financial institutions in developing this prestigious venture,’’ Harbaksh Singh, Commissioner (IT), told Express.

The project would be home to IT, bio-technology, software development and BPO majors. The architectural designs submitted are under scrutiny and a decision to finalise the design is expected anytime. Besides corporate offices, the complexes will provide facilities to run full-fledged industrial units in software development. The project will also put to good use the seven acres allotted to Hartron more than two decades ago.

‘‘We have received overwhelming responses from top architectural consultants... Since we are committed to complete it in two years’ time, decisions are taken on a fast track basis,’’ said Rao.

The company said architectural firms with a turnover of Rs 2 crore will be eligible for bidding. Some of the companies will be giving their presentations on July 6. Tenders for construction will be floated immediately after the steering committee gives its nod to the architectural design, said Harbaksh Singh.

The corporation plans to sell 60 pc of the project area, whereas the rest will be leased out. The company does not seem worried about the buyers. ‘‘Good locations are a big problem in Gurgaon, where companies are compelled to run their business in raw areas. When they have a world-class state-of-the-art option, they’ll jump to grab it,’’ said a confident Sandeep Kapoor, General Manager (Projects), Hartron.

The proposed complexes would be centrally air-conditioned with high-speed lifts and multiple parking to facilitate investors,’’ Rao said, adding that they would also have spacious conference halls of international standards.

Interestingly, earlier too, the state government had planned the cyber city project with much fanfare only to realise later that it would be unable to tackle it. The project was later handed over to private hands, the DLF.