Nano City on lines of Silicon Valley in Haryana

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PTI, 2 February 2010, 01:34pm IST

CHANDIGARH: Hotmail creator Sabeer Bhatia-promoted knowledge city project, Nano City, is in talks with a foreign venture capital firm to be a part of it.

"We are in dialogue with a foreign-based company, which will invest in the project (Nano City) as well as develop the same through its subsidiary company," Nano City Haryana Infrastructure Ltd Managing Director Naval Bhatia said on Tuesday.
However, he declined to divulge any detail regarding the company and its investment. "We hope the outcome of the talks will be out soon," he said.
Modelled on the Silicon Valley of the US, Nano City is proposed to be developed on 11,000 acres of land at Panchkula in Haryana and will come up in phases.
Expected to be completed in 10 years, the project seeks to attract world-class companies involved in creation of intellectual property, particularly those involved in software development, nano sciences, drug discovery, bio-technology, energy research and semiconductor research. It would also boast of a university and an airport.
In the first phase, the company would develop 5,000 acres of land over 5 years and the rest would be developed in the second phase.
However, the company has not seen much progress with regard to land acquisition since the project's announcement in 2006.
"We have been facing problems in land acquisition as some farmers are willing to sell land and some are not...and we are against forcible land acquisition for the project," he said.
When asked about the land to be acquired for the project, Bhatia said the company was expecting to get 1,000 acres of land within the next three months.
"We have already signed an agreement with farmers for buying 284 acres of land and in the next three months we will have 1,000 acres of land," he said.
Real estate company Parsvnath Developers Ltd had picked up 38 per cent stake in Nano City project in July 2008, with a proposed investment of Rs 400 crore as equity and debt.
In this public-private partnership, state owned Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) has 10 per cent stake, while 52 per cent lies with promoter Sabeer Bhatia.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/Nano-City-on-lines-of-Silicon-Valley-in-Haryana/articleshow/5527236.cms

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