Tidel Park works commence

REVIEWING PROGRESS: Information Technology Secretary C. Chandramouli (right) along with Collector Neeraj Mittal (second right) inspecting the excavation work for the Tidel Park at ELCOT’s Special Economic Zone for Information Technology sector at Peelamedu in Coimbatore on Wednesday. —

COIMBATORE: Construction of the Coimbatore Tidel Park will be over by December next year, according to the Information Technology Secretary, C. Chandramouli.

He told presspersons here on Wednesday that the park would have a total built-up area of 16 lakh sq.ft. This would include close to 10 lakh sq.ft of IT space and also parking space for about 1,100 cars and 2,000 two-wheelers.

Enquiries

The works were on schedule now and enquiries for occupation at the park were being registered.

The 56-acre Information Technology-sector specific Special Economic Zone in Peelamedu area here had 9.5 acres earmarked for the Tidel Park, 9.5 acres for Wipro, 9.5 acres for Tata Consultancy Services and four acres for HCL. Residential units were planned on nearly 12 acres.

Foundation

Excavation works started at the Tidel Park site last month and building construction was expected to commence in February next. Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi laid the foundation for the park in February this year.

Mr. Chandramouli held discussions with District Collector Neeraj Mittal, officials from the Revenue, State Highways Departments and Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu here on the approach road to the park. It was proposed to have a four-lane road to the park from the main Avinashi Road.

Coimbatore was the first tier-two city in the State where works have started for the Tidel Park.

Projects

Similar projects were planned in other tier-two cities, including Tirunelveli, Tiruchi and Madurai, he said. The Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu had nine IT-sector specific SEZs in six locations.

source : www.thehindu.com

Vascon Engineers, Pricol Property in joint venture

Pune-based Vascon Engineers Ltd (Vascon) has joined hands with Coimbatore-based Pricol Property Development Ltd to promote a joint venture styled Vascon Pricol Infrastructures Ltd to take up a premium hotel project and a residential-cum-commercial project here at a total investment of about Rs 600 crore-Rs 700 crore.

While hotel would be built on Avanashi road close to the Coimbatore airport, the residential project would come up at Neelambur.

Though the two partners have agreed to initially promote the projects to come up at Coimbatore, they do not rule out the possibility of extending their business venture to other cities in Tamil Nadu, and to Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.

Upcoming projects

Speaking to newsmen in Coimbatore, Mr R.Vasudevan, Managing Director of Vascon, said the hotel is being positioned in the four-star category and would have 150 rooms. The outlay for the project is about Rs 80 crore to Rs 90 crore.

The Neelambur residential-cum-commercial project would have a built up area of about 2.5 million sq.ft. and would include IT and commercial buildings, apartments, independent and row houses, motel-cum-club and service apartments, shopping mall, school, health care centre, etc. to be constructed in three phases over a three-four year period.

The project is being established on a 30-acre site and would involve an investment of about Rs 500-Rs 600 crore, making it one of the single largest investment in a real estate venture in the city.

He said more projects were in the pipeline and would be announced once the details were firmed up.

Meanwhile, Mr Vikram Mohan, Director, Pricol Property Development Ltd, said his company, independent of the joint venture, is executing six projects in and around Coimbatore at a total investment of about Rs 300 crore and this company would continue its independent existence.

Source : www.thehindubusinessline.com

Akshaya Homes investing Rs 250 cr in Coimbatore

Launching three projects

Akshaya Homes, the Chennai-based real estate developer, plans to invest Rs 250 crore in the three projects it is launching here.

The company, which recorded a turnover of Rs 100 crore during last year, expects the business to grow to Rs 450 crore during the current fiscal and Rs 1,000 crore in the next year.

Speaking to newspersons here, Mr T. Chitty Babu, Managing Director, Akshaya Homes Pvt Ltd, said with the metros becoming over crowded, the IT companies were moving towards tier-II cities.

Akshaya wanted to capitalise on this trend and is launching its first residential project at Sundarapuram in Coimbatore which is being wooed by the IT and manufacturing industries. The project would have 142 apartments and the price is Rs 2,250 per sq feet. In line with the present trend, the project would have a club house, children’s play area with equipment, indoor recreational rooms and a mini AV theatre.

Residential project

He said the company was planning to launch a commercial cum high-end residential project on the Tiruchi road close to Race Course and an integrated project with an IT park and residential apartments on the Sathyamangalam road in the city. The total investment on these projects would be about Rs 250 crore.

Apart from Chennai and Coimbatore, the company would enter the real estate markets in Bangalore and Madurai this year. He expected the turnover of the group to be around Rs 450 crore during the current fiscal, up from Rs 100 crore turnover during last year.

Mr Chitty Babu said the company has also planned to enter in other towns in Tamil Nadu such as Hosur and Tirunelveli and spread its wings to big cities such as Hyderabad to establish a South Indian presence. Asked about the reasons for the growth optimism, he said the land bank for reaching a target of Rs 450 crore in the current fiscal was already available with the company. When this target was reached, the company would have 16 or 17 on going projects and about 10 projects would have been handed over. Similarly, for the next year, the company already has projects worth Rs 780 crore on hand and there would not be any hitch in reaching the Rs 1,000-crore turnover. He said the hike in home loan rates would not hamper the growth of the realty sector. With the economy firing on cylinders, he expected the housing sector to witness a sustained growth, at least for the next 4/5 years as housing demand was fuelled by growth in other sectors of the economy.

He said he has no plans to go for any public issue.

Soured from www.thehindubusinessline.com

DLF charts projects for Chennai, Coimbatore

DLF Home Developers, part of the Delhi-based DLF group, is to launch residential township projects in Chennai and Coimbatore.

Also in the pipeline is a Hilton hotel near Chennai at Siruseri on Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) as part of a joint venture between DLF and Hilton Hotels Corporation. This plan is at a preliminary stage.

These are some of the projects that DLF has for Tamil Nadu, where it plans to invest over Rs 10,000 crore over the next three years.

Apart from this, DLF is likely to launch the two retail malls it announced earlier in Chennai. One is coming up at Ethiraj Salai, on the 4.5 acre property it bought from Mico two years ago, in the heart of the city. This would be a 4-5 lakh square feet mall with multiplex and a double basement. The other is to be built in Guindy.

The approval process is nearing completion, the company said. Sources said the two ‘mini township’ projects are planned near Chennai off OMR between Siruseri and Sholinganallur. The first, spread over 60 acres, is to be launched in two months and a second 150-acre facility, later. Another large township of over 400 acres is to come up near Sriperumbudur, about 25 km west of Chennai, in mid 2008.

Sources said the decision by one of the largest players in the real estate sector to launch residential projects on OMR is bound to have a telling impact on the market in Chennai.

At a time when there is a perception of a slump in the market for residential property, especially on the OMR, the move by the market leader to launch projects would rejuvenate the market, spur competition, and possibly set a new benchmark in prices.
Price speculation

Market sources say DLF is believed to be contemplating an aggressive price per square foot. While there is no confirmation on the price, it will be significantly lower than that of its competitors who have announced projects on OMR with prices higher than Rs 3,500 a square foot. DLF’s price would be a better ‘fit’ in a market where the slowdown in apartment purchase is attributed to a mismatch in pricing. Why would buyers want to shell out Rs 60 lakh and more for an apartment that is 30 km from the city, they ask.

Also, as a choice of location, instead of being on the OMR, DLF has chosen to put up projects a few km off OMR, taking advantage of the proximity to OMR while being away from the hustle and bustle of a main road.

DLF’s townships would have the advantage of being close to the place of work and to the proposed Siruseri-airport expressway, they said.
Coimbatore plan

The company is also planning a township project and a retail mall in Coimbatore. DLF is in the process of acquiring land in Coimbatore, which is seen as a major destination of investments in IT and industry in Tamil Nadu. The size of the township project would be decided by the land it is able to acquire at realistic prices, the sources said.

Widening of Avanashi Road set to start

The district administration has moved to ensure coordination among various agencies for widening the 16-km stretch of road from the Avanashi Road flyover to the Neelambur bypass road junction into a six-lane one, at Rs 27.5 crore.

Avanashi Road is the gateway to Coimbatore for vehicles coming from Erode, Salem, Bangalore and Chennai besides those from the hosiery town of Tirupur. The road, leading to the airport, also serves a number of residential colonies on either side besides corporate houses, educational institutions and hospitals. Traffic chaos used to reign on this stretch, especially during peak hours. Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, during a visit here in February, announced that the arterial road would be made a six-lane one, taking into account the present traffic volume as well as future growth, especially in a context in which information technology firms were coming up at the proposed IT Park near Coimbatore Medical College. District Collector Neeraj Mittal recently had a coordination meeting with various agencies on the speedy completion of the work. Mr. Mittal told The Hindu that survey and alignment assessment had been completed. A joint inspection would be carried out by agencies such as the City Corporation, the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board, the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB), Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited and private telecom service providers for moving utility fixtures such as telephone cables, water lines, electric poles and transformers to the road boundary. The TNEB was preparing an estimate for shifting its poles and transformers, and the expenditure would be met from the project cost. All preliminary works will be in full swing by July 15.

After the survey, the authorities said there was enough space on either side to provide six lanes and there would be no need to demolish any structures. There will be minimal removal of encroachments, they said.

Robert Bosch investing Rs 250 cr in Coimbatore SEZ

Robert Bosch India Ltd, which has been allotted 21.88 acres on lease in the first dedicated Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for IT/ITES industries in Coimbatore, will invest about Rs 250 crore in its Coimbatore facility in the first phase.

The company has signed a deal with Coimbatore Hi-tech Infrastructure Private Ltd, promoted by KG Information Systems Ltd, which is forming the SEZ at Saravanampatty on the Coimbatore-Mysore road. Already Robert Bosch had established in 2006 a development centre at KG Information facility.

Mr Friedhelm Pickhard, Managing Director, Robert Bosch, Bangalore, told Business Line that since the establishment of the centre at Coimbatore, the number of associates (employees) had grown to 550 now, and they are involved in dive rse areas such as software and hardware engineering, mechanical design and business services.

The Coimbatore Bosch facility is a BPO and an engineering centre.

Mr Pickhard said the company has planned to begin construction on the facility in the last quarter of 2007 and would inaugurate the first phase in early 2009. The company has strong focus on research.

Nature of work

The Bosch associates would work on advance technologies designing new Electronic Control Unit for diesel and gasoline engines and other automotive applications such as portable navigation systems, semi-autonomous parking systems, adaptive cruise control and Autosar, the new upcoming software standard for automotive applications, and for this, Bosch is in touch with the universities in Coimbatore. Mr Pickhard said the company would be investing about €41 million (about Rs 250 crore) in its Coimbatore facility in the first phase.

The company would be developing its facility in the Saravanampatty SEZ in two or three phases.

By 2010, he expects to have around 2,500 associates at Coimbatore centre.

Mr Ashok Bakthavathsalam, Managing Director, KG Information, said the decision of Robert Bosch would not only create job opportunities in Coimbatore but the manufacturing sector also would benefit since Robert Bosch looks for partners for bringing complimentary strength to what it does.

He said the establishment of KG Information’s one-stop solution for infrastructure support was one of the major reasons for Robert Bosch to select Coimbatore as the second city (after Bangalore) for expansion.

He added that after Robert Bosch, Cognizant Technology Solutions and Perot Systems were expected to have their facilities in the SEZ.

The establishment of the SEZ would also benefit the adjoining villages with the creation of non-IT jobs.

First SEZ for pvt IT cos coming up in Coimbatore

The first SEZ exclusively for private IT/ITES companies in Coimbatore is being established by Coimbatore Hi-tech Infrastructure Private Ltd (CHIL), promoted by KG Information Systems Private Ltd (KGISL).

The SEZ, which is coming up on a 150-acre site in Saravanampatty, will offer facilities such as ready-to-occupy incubation space (for start-ups) and leased-out land where companies can build own facilities to match their business plans.

Besides, it would have amenities for commercial and social infrastructure, including hotels, residential accommodation and healthcare.

Robert Bosch India Ltd (RBIL), Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTS) and Perot Systems India have been allotted a total of 50 acres for their own facilities, while the remaining 100-acre area is being developed at a total investment of about Rs 1,000 crore over a three-year period.

Speaking to newspersons after inking the deal with RBIL, Mr Ashok Bakthavathsalam, Managing Director, KGISL, said that CHIL would be building three million sq feet of office space over the next three years.

The special purpose vehicle has been formed primarily to build, operate and run the SEZ.

The Centre has notified and authorised it to run the SEZ up to 150 acres as a single contiguous area.

Mr Bakthavathsalam expects good response from small and medium IT companies from other centres looking to expand outside.

He added that market studies showed that IT/ITES companies prefer exclusive SEZs rather than co-exist with other sectors like manufacturing in the same SEZs.

On plans to expand the size of the SEZ later, he said that he would have to approach appropriate Government bodies to carry them out.

“But land is available for future expansion. The number of jobs created after three years may be around 30,000.”

The plug-and-play facilities are expected to be ready by July 2008.

The company owns the land where the SEZ is coming up; much of it is dry land.

It bought the land directly from owners without any outside support.

Coimbatore next stop on IT map; realty to boom

Coimbatore's real estate market is set to change, with IT parks, hotels and malls being planned. But if you want to invest in property here you just might have missed the bus, reports CNBC-TV18.

Suressh Menda has been in Coimbatore's property market for the past 20 years. This director of Coimbatore-based Presidium Constructions says the market here has never been so excited by hopes of an IT boom.

Menda says, "Housing will go up tremendously, correlated with that activity like mall-building, will also go up. You require hotels for industry to be placed there, so it's a whole cycle that is going to take place linked to the ITES industry here."

Over the next two-and-a-half years, 5 to 10 million sq. ft. will be developed for IT. Three dedicated IT special economic zones are expected. Besides, hotels will take up about 10 lakh sq. ft. of land. The Taj, Meridien and Kennilworth are reported to have acquired land for their projects. Coimbatore also looks set to change the way it shops.

He says, "Avanashi Road is at the center of high-street shopping in Coimbatore, but like this city, this road does not have a single shopping mall. All that is going to change over the next two to three years, when four million sq. ft. of retail space will come up on either side of this road."

In anticipation of all this activity, property prices have already increased by 300%, in some cases. Now experts say a correction is expected.

N Ananthanarayanan, Regional Director, JLL-Meghraj, says, "What's happened is that Coimbatore had a sympathy rise along with Chennai, but with prices in Chennai itself flattening out, it looks like Coimbatore will also flatten out."

Like Chennai, Coimbatore's population mix will also change. Experts say between 25,000 and 30,000 IT workers will come into Coimbatore in the next two or three years. That will keep firm the demand for quality housing.

Source : www.moneycontrol.com

Work on IT Park in Coimbatore will begin by Aug -- CM approves building design

The project would come up within 18 months of finalising the modalities at an estimated investment of Rs 200-250 crore.

The long-awaited Government mooted IT Park in Coimbatore is likely to see some shape soon.

The Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT) Managing Director, Mr C. Umashankar, told Business Line that the State Government has approved the building design and the construction activity would begin by August.

He said the ELCOT board and TIDCO (Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation) shortlisted three designs for the Chief Minister's approval two days back.

He has approved one of the three structures.

"We will float the tender and announce the financial closure shortly,'' Mr Umashankar said.

The Chief Minister laid the foundation stone two months ago. Mr Umashankar then indicated that the project would come up within 18 months of finalising the modalities.

Initially, an area of 29 acres was transferred from the Health Department to the IT Department for the proposed park.

Thereafter, an additional 33 acres was also acquired near the Coimbatore Medical College campus, with the Government contemplating developing social infrastructure projects.

The park is expected to have a built-up area of one million sq.ft. and the estimated investment on this has been pegged at Rs 200 crore to Rs 250 crore.

"Since it has the Special Economic Zone status, we will be eligible to get a 20 per cent rebate on imported items,'' Mr Umashankar said.

Wipro and Tata Consultancy Services, who have been allotted 10 acres and 5 acres respectively for establishing their own campus, are also expected to start work on the project.

Chennai's growth clouds Coimbatore's attempt to be IT hub

Coimbatore has always been touted as an alternative to Chennai for companies to invest in. However, in recent years, Chennai's rapid growth has clouded Coimbatore's attempt to become an attractive IT destination, reports CNBC-TV18.
Perot Systems is expanding its Coimbatore facility so that it can double its existing headcount. The company, which has offices in Noida, Bangalore and Chennai, apart from Coimbatore, says its experience here has been as good as any of its other Indian centres.
"Our experience has been so good, which is why, we are substantially ramping up operations. This has, primarily, been possible because of great manpower availability,” said Srinivasa Rao, Chief Financial Officer at Perot Systems.
This availability stems from the fact that Coimbatore has three universities, 21 Engineering colleges and over 65 Arts and Science colleges. Apart from Perot, Robert Bosch and Cognizant are the only other big IT companies here, which means that attrition rates, the IT and BPO industry's biggest bugbear, are much lower. That along with lower staff and real estate costs, means that Perot saves about 25% by working from Coimbatore. In spite of this, Coimbatore's overall perfomance as an IT hub is still lagging behind.
On a 29-acre parcel of land, a new proposed IT park will come up. On adjacent plots, Wipro and TCS’ campuses will come up. But after a rather quick land acquisition process, work has almost ground to a stand still. This concerns the local IT industry, which believes that, unless this IT park comes up, Coimbatore's nascent IT industry will never boom.
Experts say IT in Coimbatore has still not taken off as expected because Chennai is still not overcrowded and its old Mahabalipuram Road is emerging as Tamil Nadu's IT Highway. But as cost savings become obvious and the new IT park comes up, Coimbatore could well be Tamil Nadu's next IT boomtown.

IBM forays into Coimbatore - More Info

IBM India today announced its operations in Coimbatore, as part of its expansion plans to enter 14 new cities in the country. This would enable IBM to cater specially to the unique requirements of the various SMB clients spread in the city of Coimbatore and neighboring markets.

Ramesh Narasimhan, Director – GSMB, IBM India, said “Opening operations in Coimbatore is an example of IBM’s continued commitment to working closely with SMBs throughout India to provide them with products, solutions and value added offerings that will give them the boost to get ahead and succeed.”

“Coimbatore, a strong manufacturing and resource hub for many industries will be an important market for IBM and this initiative from us will further cement our commitment to grow Coimbatore to an even stronger global market through our innovative collaboration with IT and their businesses,” Ramesh added.







IBM’s portfolio of clients in Coimbatore includes Suguna Poultry, Karur Vysya Bank, Lakshmi Vilas Bank, Roots Industries, Shanti Gears, KGISL, Precot Meridian Ltd, L G Balakrishnan & Bros, Super Spinning Mills Ltd, among others. IBM plans to work hand-in-hand with local ISVs to provide new and existing clients with additional value-added solutions that are specifically tailored to the local market.

With over 3000 SMB customers in India, IBM’s operations in Coimbatore will target various clients in Government, Banking and Finance, Retail, Manufacturing, Automotive, Educational sectors among others.


As the fastest growing sector in IBM India, the Global Small & Medium Business (GSMB) unit is ready to address this growth and offer SMBs the solutions and technologies that are critical to their survival in the challenging Indian market. Mid-market companies have distinct needs that are often ignored by most service providers. IBM’s Technologies and Solutions for Indian Small and Mid-market businesses provide a competitive edge in this era of globalisation.

IBM has invested in the development of products and services specifically priced and designed for the SMB marketplace under the brand name ‘IBM Express Portfolio’. IBM's Express portfolio is comprised of hardware, software, services, solutions and financing and is designed to meet specific criteria for SMBs.

These offerings are delivered through sales and marketing team of 6,000 people and a network of 90,000 Business Partners, organized in 243 local sales territories around the world.

IBM commences Coimbatore operations

In looking to establish office at strategic locations, IBM India is no exception. But what seemed strange was the location of the company's office in Coimbatore.

Instead of looking for space in an IT park or a commercial building in the heart of the city, IBM has set up its office at the Business Centre at the Residency.

On the reason behind choosing the business centre in a prominent hotel, Mr Ramesh Narasimhan, Director (SMB), India and South Asia, said: "We are looking at logistics to start off our operations here. We will have a much larger operation very soon."

The company is planning to establish its offices in 14 new locations this year, including smaller hubs such as Madurai, Vizag and Kochi in the South.

Expansion plans

"We will be strengthening both - our reach (by setting up offices) and people," Mr Narasimhan said.

Though he did not specify the numbers that the company proposed to add to its rolls this year, he maintained that IBM India would look at picking up freshers and lateral recruitment in a big way. The company added 15,000 people last year, taking the headcount to 53,000 in 2006.

On the team size here, he said: "We have people travelling across locations all the time, addressing different markets and resolving issues. The establishment of a set-up is only to strengthen and build relationship with customers and partners."

IBM works with 1,500 partners nationally, including 200 in Tamil Nadu.

Mr Narasimhan indicated that the company would strive to increase these numbers. According to him, partners help strengthen IBM's reach, adding their own value, and aid in relationship building.

On the cost of establishing its office here, he said that $6 billion has been earmarked for investments in India.

"We will be using the funds from this corpus for setting up offices across new locations and for establishing a global delivery centre and software labs, among others."

Air Deccan plans foray into cargo services

Can a consumer hope to get seasonal fruits from far off production centres sooner than he does now, that too at a relatively lower cost?

That possibility appears imminent as the low cost domestic airliner, Air Deccan which set a trend in introducing the `no-frills' air travel three years ago is planning a repeat, this time in offering low cost cargo services by taking advantage of its fast growing network of air services linking regional airports.

The Bangalore-based airline is poised to enter into domestic cargo services shortly. To facilitate this the board of Air Deccan has already approved floating a new subsidiary that would run a low cost domestic air cargo services, according to Air Deccan officials.

Indications are that the new service from the airline will take off within a month or so.

"We are actively strategising to begin low cost cargo operations with the conviction that transporting apples from Kashmir to Chennai at a lowest possible cost will give a much needed boost to our primary economy,' an Air Deccan communication has said.


Air Deccan's proposed entry into freight service is backed by the projected market outlook, as the growth for dedicated air freight service, as projected by Airbus Industries' survey, is expected to go up from the present eight to 165 services a day by 2026. Going by the demand surge for air cargo service, the Civil Aviation Ministry itself has estimated the country's need for dedicated cargo plane to touch 500 in 10 years' time.

In the meantime, the low cost airlines' agenda of widening its air network to cover more tier-2 cities of economic and historic/cultural importance is expected to get further boost as Air Deccan is to soon launch flights linking Bodhgaya and Jamshedpur to Kolkata, Ludhiana and Kangra to Delhi and new long sector flight connectivity between Chennai and Jammu (via Madurai) and Kolkata and Jaipur (via Delhi). The airline is also planning to link Salem in Tamil Nadu with Bangalore, the closest metro airport, which can happen much before its proposal to run flight service from Chennai to Salem.

Coimbatore, among the earliest regional airports to attract Air Deccan has turned out to be its strong forte with the airline flying approximately 35,000 passengers to and from the city every month and it runs 15 flights daily. Its daily flights linking Coimbatore with Mumbai and Chennai run with a passenger complements at 80 per cent and above.