The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Project that spins ‘real’ boom

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Saturday, Nov 24, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Project that spins ‘real’ boom

Santosh Patnaik

Judicial nod awaited

Knowledge City is single largest land deal in country
State turns into a land broker: CPI

VISAKHAPATNAM: The ‘Integrated Vizag Knowledge City’ project, if cleared by the judiciary, is bound to give a quantum jump to real estate prices in and around the city.

At present, two petitions, one challenging the tender process and another opposing the sale of hillocks threatening the eco-system, are pending before the Andhra Pradesh High Court.

“The latest trend is that the government itself has become a land broker for the corporates. For the Pharma City project, land was acquired by the APIIC for Rs.4 lakhs to Rs.5 lakhs a few years ago and now the promoter, Ramky, is selling land by obtaining permission for Special Economic Zone at Rs.75 lakhs per acre,” CPI State secretary K. Narayana said.

The Knowledge City project, awarded by the APIIC to Unitech Ltd. of Delhi, is considered the single largest land deal anywhere in the country in the recent past. In one stroke, the APIIC has awarded the project to Unitech Ltd. for purchase of 1,750 acres on payment of Rs. 3,288 crores over a period of 10 years.

Market price

The market price was fixed at Rs.20 lakhs amid criticism that land at the nearby area had fetched VUDA somewhere around Rs.1 crore to Rs.2 crores per acre. Of 18 bid documents sold, five firms took part in bidding. Unitech was declared successful after Al Hamara Rea Estates Development LLC of Dubai backed out.

Sources said the company, which bought 340 acres in Noida for Rs.1,560 crores sometime ago for a township, wants to have a built-up area of 100 million square feet. The firm wants to invest around Rs. 20,000 crores to Rs.30,000 crores and earn a revenue of Rs.75,000 crores in 10 years.

An APIIC official said the firm would build eco-friendly villas, apartments, malls, helipad, entertainment and leisure tourism facilities and a world-class golf course.

“It’s nothing but a largest ever single land deal in the country to facilitate mega business by a corporate realtor,” Bhujanga Rao, a right to information activist, said.

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