• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

R. Balaji

Chennai, Sept. 29 The Shriram Group is discussing with a Singapore-based transport service provider to float a joint venture company that will offer transport infrastructure for software companies taking up space at the 3.6 million sq ft IT SEZ.

When completed, the Gateway which the group is setting up, will have over 45,000 employees working for companies in the IT SEZ. The joint venture company will provide transport facilities including buses for the employees to commute from the city to the facility located near Tambaram, a southern suburb of Chennai, sources said.

IT companies generally provide transport facilities to the employees. These services are outsourced to transport service providers.

According to industry sources, over 1,000 buses, 2,000 cars and maxi cabs are on contract to IT companies for use on a daily basis within the city.

Shriram Properties sees this as an opportunity to provide transport infrastructure to the companies taking up space at the IT SEZ. Apart from being an additional revenue source, it would also be a selling point for the IT SEZ, the sources said.

By industry norms, ruling out those opting for public transport and those with private transport facilities, at least a third of the employees at the Gateway – about 15,000 – would depend on transport facilities provided by the companies. That would mean a fleet size of about 300 buses that would be needed to shuttle the workers.

According to sources, the Singapore-based transport company is among the largest cab operators there. The plan envisages a modern, luxurious fleet of buses fitted with GPS facilities.

The first block of the Gateway, a joint venture between Shriram Properties Ltd and Sun-Apollo Real Estate, will be ready in February 2008. By mid-2008 over a million square feet will be in operation. The project is to be completed over the next three years. The total built up space would be about 5.5 million sq ft including the IT SEZ, 250 service apartments and a shopping mall.

More Stories on : Alliances & Joint Ventures | Infrastructure | Roadways | HCV/LCV/Tractors

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Dredging Corp declares 150% dividend

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line