THE government is planning to build 6-7 new IT townships, called knowledge townships, close to major urban centres and international airports. The residential townships will be based on the walk-to-work concept. This means the professionals working there will be encouraged to live close to the workplace.
The companies setting up units in the townships may be extended tax sops under either the software technology park (STP) or special economic zone (SEZ) scheme. Each township would have a minimum 10-hectare (1 hectare = 2.471 acres) built-up area to make it compliant with FDI rules relating to investment in real estate. Each township is likely to entail an investment of Rs 500-650 crore, depending on the area.
A committee comprising members from the PMO, ministry of IT & telecom, urban development, civil aviation, Dipp along with Nasscom has identified several areas for setting up the knowledge hubs.
Sources in the committee said that these proposed townships will be extension of satellite towns like Gurgaon (to be called Gurgaon Plus). Similarly the township near Mohali will be called Mohali Plus. The first of these new townships is expected to come up by 2012 and the rest by 2015.
… services like IT and BPO will be encouraged in these units.
Many domestic and foreign real estate players have expressed interest in owning land and build such townships.
“We want each township to be FDI compliant so that they can attract foreign expertise,” a senior DIPP official said. Every township would be a special purpose vehicle where states and developers would have stakes.
Urban development secretary M Ramachandran said that his ministry would advise the committee on facilities like water, electricity, drainage and other civic facilities. “We will also help in developing the structures,” he said.
“The townships may also have an IIT/IIM or such academic institutions to build an ecosystem. For tax sops, we are pushing for extension of STP scheme else the companies can also opt for SEZ status,” said Nasscom president Kiran Karnik. The townships will come complete with educational, recreational/amusement and healthcare infrastructure.
“The basic reason for proposing such townships is the existing saturation in real estate and infrastructure amongst existing IT hubs,” Mr Karnik added.
Gurgaon real estate rentals have shot up meteorically in the recent past while Bangalore doesn’t have any real estate. …
Currently, Mohali, Mysore, Noida and Gurgaon have come up as satellite townships to major state capitals, most of which have international airports.
… SEZs offer a five-year 100% tax exemption with two subsequent five-year exemptions of 70% and 50% to units.
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