BASIC AMENITIES: The proposed infrastructure upgradation programme at Ambattur industrial estate in Chennai would address a host of other issues, including those involving aesthetics. — File photo

CHENNAI: Two of the oldest industrial estates in the country at Guindy and Ambattur here are set to receive a makeover that will help them attract investment, improve the competitiveness of manufacturing units and reposition themselves as a destination of the services sector.

The proposed upgradation of the once premier estates, now plagued by poor infrastructure, involves a comprehensive development of the basic amenities, from roads, water supply to sewage treatment, entailing several crores of rupees.

Special purpose vehicle

Though on the anvil for sometime, the development of Ambattur industrial estate, under the Centre's Industrial Infrastructure Upgradation Scheme, gained momentum with a company (special purpose vehicle-SPV) formed for the purpose recently signing a revenue share agreement with Small Industries Development Corporation (SIDCO).

The development is part of a larger plan of the Centre to promote product-oriented clusters. The Ambattur industrial estate, along with those at Thirumudivakkam and Thirumazhisai, is to be upgraded under the Chennai auto cluster programme. By virtue of being the largest of the three, the Ambattur estate is poised to get a lion's share of the total project cost of Rs. 47.20 crore.

Under the scheme, the Centre will provide a 75 per cent grant while the rest will be shared by the unit holders and the State Government and raised through loans from financial institutions.

The key components of the programme are upgradation of the roads and stormwater drains, water sourcing and supply, floodwater management and refurbishment of sewerage system. Provision of common facilities such as testing and calibration centre are also proposed.

Says A.S. Hariprasad, chairman of Chennai Auto Ancillary Industrial Infrastructure Upgradation Company, the SPV, "we have finalised the design and cost estimates... the physical implementation of the project would take 15 months from April."

On the revenue mechanism, particularly for maintenance, he says that under the agreement the SIDCO has empowered the company to collect and use the maintenance charges paid by the unit holders.

Sources of revenue

Other sources of revenue for the company will be the fees from the proposed parking bays for commercial vehicles, corporate sponsorship of the traffic islands and hoardings.

The infrastructure development plans at the Guindy industrial estate, however, seems to have hit a bottleneck with two of three bidders in a tender floated for the purpose by the Guindy Infrastructure Upgradation Company (GUIC) technically disqualified.

The Tamil Nadu Road Development Company Limited that is playing a lead role in the infrastructure development programme was working towards re-floating the tender, according to sources in the estate.

The Rs. 12.60-crore project, in which the Central and State Governments are contributing Rs. 2 crore each covering various components of infrastructure, includes relaying of about 17 km of roads.

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