DLF plans 20000 acre SEZ in Gurgaon!

Real Estate giant DLF Universal Ltd is going to match Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd in setting up a 20,000-acre multiproduct Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Gurgaon.

Senior officials of Haryana State Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC), say the private developer have offered the corporation a joint venture for the SEZ. “However, the project will have to be first approved by the Haryana Industrial Promotion Board (HIPB),” adds an official.

The proposed project, which has already received an in-principle approval of the Central government, is proposed to be set up on both sides of (Gurgaon-Jaipur) National Highway 8, bisecting the proposed Kundli Manesar Palwal (KMP) Expressway. In fact, the proposed DLF SEZ will look on to the 25,000-acre Reliance-HSIIDC joint venture SEZ likely to come up in Gurgaon and Jhajjar districts.

The proposed DLF SEZ will be developed in four phases. The first phase of 500 acres is expected to be completed by 2009 and the final phase by 2018.

The company expects the SEZ to attract an investment of Rs 1, 24,000 crore in terms of fixed assets like industrial, commercial and residential stock. The annual export potential of the project has been pegged at $10-12 billion once it is fully operational. The SEZ project will be developed through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) promoted by DLF.

The company has identified land on both sides of NH 8 for the project, and has offered to keep any part of the land acquired by the state government for public purpose out of the SEZ project.

The project report submitted by DLF visualizes 5,000-6,000 acres of the total project area being developed for industrial use in two parts - large industrial zone and small industrial zone. The large industrial zone will be developed with plots of 10, 25 and 50 acres, while the small industrial zone will be developed with plots of one, two and five acres.

The company also proposes to demarcate a “free trade zone” within the processing area of the SEZ, which would lay emphasis on trading of goods and commodities manufactured within the SEZ, their packaging/ repackaging/ exhibition and the service sector, including BPOs, IT and ITES companies.

The private developer will reserve about 2,000 acres for a commercial zone that will include shops and other establishments such as hotels, office complexes and banks. DLF will also develop about 20 million square feet of built-up infrastructure, which would include business centers, Logistics Park, warehouses and hotels.

Almost 10,000 acres will be developed solely as residential zone, providing all categories of houses for people working in the SEZ. DLF will also develop about 2,000 to 3,000 acres as institutional area, providing educational, healthcare and research infrastructure.

The private developer will provide connectivity to the 20,000 acre SEZ by creating an arterial road connecting NH 8 and the proposed Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway during the first phase of development. DLF also proposes to set up a gas-based captive power plant of 2,000 MW capacity at a cost of Rs 6,000 crore.

According to tentative company estimates, the land cost for the project will work out to Rs 10,000 crore. The development cost has been estimated at Rs 6,142 crore, the cost for readily built infrastructure at Rs 2,625 and the cost of project management at Rs 938 crore.