Come October, Ajit Gulabchand can gently suggest to the World Economic Forum to host an annual event in India, in his brand new city, Lavasa.

Lavasa has everything that Davos has, minus the snow and the skiing. Like Davos, it is scenic, far away from the bustling Mumbai and Pune that attendees can feel at ease there. Nestled amid the Sahyadri ranges, Lavasa affords a wall of security. For Hindustan Construction Corporation (HCC), the Lavasa City could also be a platform to showcase the potential for private infrastructure projects in India.

Unlike Davos, this will not be a tourist economy that thrives on weekends and on the vacation and conference season. Lavasa City will be a 365-day economy. It will house several non-polluting businesses?education, hospitality, leisure, entertainment, IT/ITeS/gaming and animation, biotech and R&D outfits?apart from thousands of residential units.

Ajit Gulabchand, chairman, Lavasa Corporation Ltd, says, ?Lavasa city will have a 24/7 economy. While we have to begin with weekend homes, because there is nothing here, our next peg has been education. We have commitments that will create 10,000 students in Lavasa by end-2010, which means a thousand teachers and professors, giving the city a permanent population.?

The same is true of businesses. ?We are looking at businesses bringing in their research and training centres here,? Gulabchand adds.

With the student population and 5,000 hotel rooms, there would be around 10,000 people employed in these segments alone. In all, investments in the city are expected to create 95,000 jobs to ensure a vibrant and sustainable city.?

This October, the Lavasa City?s first town, Dasve, will open its gates to the world and to its residential owners to start living in the city. By then, the city will hand over 1,000 residences to the owners, says Rajgopal Nogja, president, Lavasa. The plan is to have 65% of the development for residential units and 35% for non-residential activities.

The city will have its own police station, fire station and bank branches. A hospital from Apollo has started and so has ITC?s Fortune Hotel.

The luxurious Dasvino Town and Country Club is opening on March 24. Lavasa will be opening its convention centre, inspired by the Davos Congress Centre, with a capacity to house 1,500 and run by Accor Hospitality.

The Dasvino Club will be managed by the International Leisure Consultants, Hong Kong. Which also manage the Disneyland Hong Kong. Swedish spa expert Kerstin Florian will bring the Kerstin Florian International Spa to Dasvino. Floodlit plexipave courts for tennis and squash, the Asian Opera gourmet dining and an English style Pub will be ready. But all this is only a tiny part of Dasve, the first phase of the Lavasa project.

So far the city has sold 10 million sq ft of residential space. The property was sold at Rs 2,250 per sq ft 15 to 18 months ago and is now at Rs 3,250 per sq ft. Independent villa rates have gone up from 2,750 per sq ft to Rs 3,700 sq ft in the same time.

?Till now Rs 2,000 crore have been invested in Lavasa to build a city with five townships. Lavasa promises a variety of residential accommodation from Rs 500 a month rentals to Rs 1 crore villas,? says Gulabchand.

Lavasa is not an exclusive township for the well-heeled. The concept of mixed housing has been used to ensure it is home to everyone who either needs to be here on work or chooses to live here. So there is also a rental business model at Lavasa. This is part of the mass housing plan.

?Once Lavasa starts creating its own economy, we will persuade the government to bring in a district court, may be six years down the line. Similarly, we are working on a public private partnership model so that the people who live here will also govern themselves,? says Gulabchand. Now, the challenge is in creating a community. ?We want artistes to come here, we are going to build a centre for performing arts, art galleries, schools of archite bchand. Will this work, can a city that takes decades and generations to evolve be created this way? We will know once the city goes fully live.

Pvt municipality

The city will be governed and administered independently by a special planning authority. It will have its own administration and revenue collection systems. Lavasa Corporation Limited, which has appointed Scott Wrighton from the US as the city manager, will run like a municipal body; collect revenues, maintain the city infrastructure and administer it. Wrighton has 20 years of experience as state manager of Illinois, Missouri and Kansas. A team of 75 to 80 people will assist him.

The economy

Weekend tourism, conferencing, education, entertainment & leisure?theme parks, water sports, games arcade, stadiums?are expected to pull in two million visitors every year, which will keep the Lavasa economy rolling. In terms of real estate development, the plan is to have 65% of the development for residential units and 35% for non-residential activities. Lavasa is not an exclusive township for the well-heeled. The concept of mixed housing has been used to ensure it is home to everyone

Mobility

Lavasa offers access to Mumbai (216 km) and Pune (72 km). The new Mumbai International airport will be 145 km away. Lavasa City is around one and a half hours drive from Pune and four hours from Mumbai via the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. The distance from Mumbai will be significantly reduced by 30 to 45 minutes once the entry via Lonavala-Nive-Tamhini Ghat becomes operational through a 1.5-km tunnel way.