DLF to go ahead with four IT project sans SEZ status

DLF is planning to go ahead with its four IT park projects in Gujarat, Haryana, Orissa and West Bengal, sans the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) status.

A DLF official confirmed the news and said, while the projects could see a further delay of six-eight months, they are still very much on. The company may, meanwhile, change the land-use pattern also, making more room for housing and commercial activities.

“The Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) status is likely to be extended and this makes good business sense to keep our IT projects on for better times. The investment and size of the projects remain unchanged as of now,” DLF’s Executive Director Y K Tyagi said.

DLF had planned 25-acre IT parks in Gandhinagar, Sonepat, Bhubaneswar and Kolkata.

In Gandhinagar, the company had been allotted 25 acres of government land at subsidised rates. DLF had recently communicated to the state IT department that it aims to use 50 per cent of the land for IT/ITeS (IT-enabled Services), while the balance would be used for residential/commercial purposes. “DLF has shown interest in continuing with the IT project in Gandhinagar. We will let them keep the land for the project,” said a senior government official.

Once a developer gets an SEZ notification for an IT park, it has to develop 2 lakh sq ft in the first 18 months. DLF failed to do so and, hence, it requested the Centre to scrap the SEZ status, sources said.

The Gandhinagar project was to be completed by January 2009 and had been projected to create 2.5 million sq ft of workspace. DLF had chalked out an investment plan of Rs 850 crore for the Gujarat project. The real estate major was aiming to draw companies like IBM, Cognizant, Mphasis and Symantec to its park, government sources said. It had also been aiming to lease out as less as 5,000 sq ft to accommodate local players, including entrepreneurs, according to sources close to the development.

The Central government on Monday gave an in-principle nod to DLF to withdraw the four IT/ITeS Special Economic Zones as the realty major did not want to develop them in the face of a slowdown in the real estate business.