The Hindu Business Line : Parsvnath picks up 38% stake in Nano City project

Real estate company Parsvnath Developers Ltd (PDL) on Wednesday announced that it has picked up a 38 per cent stake in Nano City Haryana Ltd, a proposed knowledge city project spread over 11,000 acres in Panchkula near Chandigarh.

“We will be making an investment of Rs 400 crore as equity and debt. Parsvnath has acquired 38 per cent stake in the project for Rs 41.5 crore, while the balance contribution will be debt. The total project cost will be Rs 50,000 crore,” Mr Pradeep Jain, Chairman, Parsvnath Developers Ltd, said at a conference here.

In the public-private partnership, Haryana Government through HSIIDC would hold 10 per cent equity stake, while 52 per cent will be with a Group promoted by Mr Sabeer Bhatia, the creator of Hotmail, which was acquired by Microsoft for about $400 million in 1997.

The Nano City project is modelled on Silicon Valley and would come up in phases. In the first phase, the company will develop about 5,000 acres in 5-6 years, while the balance 6,000 acres would be developed in the second phase. The entire knowledge city is expected to be completed in 10 years.

The project — fully approved by Haryana Government and located in Panchkula near Chandigarh — would include four districts — IT, University, Airport and Biotech. The project is expected to attract companies involved in creation of Intellectual Property, particularly those involved in software development, nano sciences, drug discovery, bio-technology, energy research and semiconductor research.

“India has done well in embracing service economy and the next wave will be all about knowledge economy which, in turn, is heavily dependent on Intellectual Property (IP). We hope to get world class educational institutions and research firms into Nanocity,” Mr Bhatia said. Parsvnath’s Rs 10 shares were down nearly 5 per cent on the NSE today at Rs 103.20.

According to the project master plan, 25 per cent area would be earmarked for industrial use, 30 per cent for residential and 10 per cent for educational institutions. “Going forward, we will be raising funds for the project through Private Equity (PE) placements and an initial public offer in 18-24 months,” Mr Jain added.

Mr Jain said that the land had been notified by the State. “We will be completing the process of land acquisition in 6-9 months,” he added.