Mahindra awaits land from govt for World City at Dholera

Real estate arm of Mahindra Group is keen to set up integrated business city there

Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd, the real estate and infrastructure arm of the Mahindra Group, is keen to set up an integrated business city at Dholera, and is awaiting land from the state government for the project. The company has recently approached the state government to set the ball rolling, claimed sources.

For the Mahindra World City (MWC) project, the company had signed a memorandum of understanding with the state government in the Vibrant Gujarat Summit in 2011.

According to the MoU, the plan was to set up an integrated business city in the lines of the MWC over 3,000 acres at Dholera special investment region for an investment of around Rs 2,000 crore.

Anita Arjundas, managing director & CEO, Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd (MLDL), said, "We signed an MoU in Vibrant Gujarat two or three years back for a MWC in Dholera special investment region of Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor. We are awaiting the land from the Government to be able to take it forward."

A senior official in the state government informed that MLDL had indeed approached the state government for taking the project forward. It even invited officials from a state government division to visit the MWC at Chennai to get a look and feel of how the proposed project would shape up. "They are definitely keen and are working on taking it forward. So far no land has been allotted to the MWC, work is on," said the official.

MLDL currently operated two MWCs, one at Jaipur in Rajasthan and the other at Chennai in Tamil Nadu. "As far as the current MWCs are concerned, there are over 100 customers who have taken up around 1500 acres. Current employment at 35,000 and current exports at Rs 6,700 crore and current investments of over Rs 4,000 crore by the companies at MWC Chennai and Jaipur," Arjundas informed.

Some of the major clients who have set up shop at the existing MWCs include Deutsche Bank, Genpact, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, Brakes India Ltd, Sundaram Clayton, Sundaram Fasteners, Timken India, JCB Excavators, State Bank of India, BMW India, Federal Mogul, among others.

While combined exports from the two MWCs rose by 39 per cent in FY13 on a year-on-year basis, combined direct employment rose by 16 per cent during the fiscal. The Gujarat MWC, when fully operational can create employment for over 100,000 persons and attract investments in excess of Rs 10,000 crores.

Apart from special economic zones and domestic tariff areas, the MWCs also house residential complexes, and facilities for retail, leisure and hospitality.