Parsvnath Developers Ltd has acquired a 38% equity stake in Sabeer Bhatia-promoted knowledge city project, Nano City Haryana Ltd at Panchkula near Chandigarh. The real estate major will invest Rs 400 crore as equity and debt for the project which is being jointly promoted by the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (HSIIDC) of the Haryana government.
Parsvnath will hold 38% in the project now called Parsvnath Nano City with Sabeer Bhatia holding 52% in the project. The remaining 10% equity stake is with HSIIDC. KPMG is the advisor for the project which has been valued at Rs 50,000 crore. The entire project will be split into four districts–IT, university, biotech and airport.
Modelled on Silicon Valley, the project will come up in two phases and will be completed in 10 years. According to Pradeep Jain, chairman, Parsvnath Developers, “We have received the licence for the project and the land acquisition process will be completed in 6-9 months from now.”
The promoters are aiming at making the Nano city self-sufficient in terms of power and water requirement. “The project is expected to attract world-class companies involved in the creation of intellectual property. It will be the future hub for software development, nano science, drug discovery, bio-technology, energy and semiconductor research.” said Jain. In the first phase, the company will develop around 5,000 acres and the rest 6,000 acres will be developed in the second phase. Out of the total area of 11,000 acres, 35-40% will be kept for residential purposes while 4% would be commercial area. “Though India is the IT hub of the world, it lacks a centre of innovation and incubation for companies that encourages technologies of the future. The Parsvnath Nano City will aim be to a world class knowledge city,” said Sabeer Bhatia, the famed co-founder of hotmail.com.
