Green IT SEZ set to raise over Rs 800 cr

The promoters of GreenSpaces, an IT-specific Special Economic Zone (SEZ) coming up in Faridabad, near New Delhi, are understood to be looking at raising $182 million (about Rs 842 crore) in construction capital funding for the project. 

Paharpur Business Centre & Software Technology Incubator Park (PBC-STIP), the promoters of the SEZ, planned to come up on 8 acres of land, are looking at financing the project by raising $115 million (about Rs 532 crore) of the total funding by way of senior debt and $57 million (about Rs 264 crore) via equity dilution, sources said. 

GreenSpaces, a project envisaged as the largest green building in India with carbon credit offsetting plans in place, is currently known to be scouting for a US-based anchor investor to bring in about $30 million into the project. 

Senior officials at PBC-STIP were not available for comment on the development. 

The 23-storey IT SEZ will have a floor area of 1.75 million sq ft and will provide world-class telecom infrastructure with a fiber optic backbone, besides other plug-and-play facilities. The promoters expect it to economically reduce energy consumption by buildings by up to 75 per cent over conventional structures. 

Work on the IT SEZ is scheduled to start in 2010 and the park is set to be operational by the middle of 2012. The GreenSpaces project has been certified as a ‘Super Platinum Green Building’ by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) group for its low carbon footprint and energy efficiency. 

A 48,000 sq ft duty-free shopping complex and a 6,000 sq ft hotel are also planned in the SEZ. The PBC-STIP management has roped in tech partners like General Electric, Carrier, Otis, IBM and ITT as collaborators in the project, according to information available on its official website. 

GreenSpaces also has an advisory board comprising faculty and industry leaders from the IITs, MIT, Stanford University, Tufts University, NASA, and the US Green Building Council. Other advisors include the US government’s Department of Energy, Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) Laboratories, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, National Renewable Energy laboratory and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.