Srei Infra's Attivo lines up Rs 3,000 crore investment

Attivo has also acquired AMRL Hitech City, a multi-product Special Economic Zone at Nanguneri in Tamil Nadu

Attivo Economic Zones, part of Kolkata-based Srei Infrastructure Finance and in the business of developing managing and marketing industrial parks, has readied projects worth Rs 3,000 crore. The company plans to raise Rs 1,000 crore equity to support these.

Attivo has also acquired AMRL Hitech City, a multi-product Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Nanguneri in Tamil Nadu.

The AMRL Hitech City, is a multi-product SEZ at Nanguneri in southern Tamil Nadu. It was financed by Srei and operated by Attivo. The original promoter was AMR Group. The process of getting this SEZ operational started in 2013 and relevant permissions from the Centre came in early 2015. Further discussion is on with the government of Tamil Nadu to finalise the structure, said Indranil Dasgupta, chief executive officer of Attivo.

The SEZ already has around 25 customers, including Dabur and Hansa Green, and attracted investment of Rs 400-500 crore. The project area is around 2,500 acres, of which 2,000 acres is for the industrial zone. the rest is for the residential township and commercial activities. The company has invested Rs 250-300 crore in this project, and plans to invest another Rs 2,000 crore over the next 10 years.

Dasgupta said 100 acres had been leased out to a little over 25 customers. It has got enquiries for another 800-900 acres. The target sectors include electronics, defence, engineering, automobiles and auto components.

Attivo also plans to set up an integrated education and services SEZ at Alibaug, Maharashtra, on 350 acres. The project will be launched in the next two years and Rs 250 crore has been invested already. Another Rs 1,000-1,200 crore is planned over the next seven-odd years. The target sectors include financial services, information technology, biotech, education and health.

Attivo has also joined hands with The Assam Company to promote a petrochemical economic zone, not an SEZ, at Bharuch, Gujarat. The agreement is for marketing by Attivo; later, the partner will consider taking an equity stake, said Dasgupta. The 700-acre project is ready for sale.

In its home state of West Bengal, the company is developing an automobile and engineering industrial park at Kharagpur, on 300 acres.

For all these, the promoters have infused Rs 500 crore of funds in Attivo. It is open to equity dilution.

Attivo is also exploring opportunities to develop or acquire SEZs, economic zones or industrial parks in Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, said Dasgupta. He says he's optimistic about the future, as the central government wants to make Indian manufacturing competitive. He pointed to recent policy moves in this regard.