ITE Group mulls Rs 35-crore recreation centres in Vizag, Tirupati

Delhi-based ITE Group India, a leading exhibition organiser, is looking at setting up recreation centres in Visakhapatnam and Tirupati at an investment of Rs 30-35 crore each.

The company, in association with the Andhra Pradesh tourism department, is currently developing Expo City "� a Rs 33-crore, 12-storeyed recreation centre and food court "� at the Tourist Entertainment Development Complex abutting the Lower Tank Bund Road in Hyderabad.

Speaking to Business Standard, ITE Group managing director Mukesh Sharma said, "The port city is fast emerging as a hot destination for IT and manufacturing companies for setting up shop while the Temple town is already a major tourist attraction. We see immense potential in these two markets, and hence propose to set up recreation centres there. We are in discussions with the tourism department for acquiring prime land, and once our Hyderabad project is completed, we plan to focus on the Visakhapatnam and Tirupati projects and start the construction work by 2007."

Special purpose vehicles (SPVs) will be formed for executing the construction work of the two projects, he added.

ITE Group is also coming up with similar projects in Noida and Jaipur. According to Sharma, the Rs 40-crore Expo City in Noida is slated to be opened on 2.50 lakh sq ft of land by March 2006. "A pillar-less exhibition hall has already been completed in the first phase of the Noida centre, while the construction of a shopping mall is in progress," he said.

Sharma said that the company was in the process of acquiring land for a habitat centre in Jaipur. The centre, with a project outlay of Rs 60 crore, will have a hotel with 400 rooms, a convention hall and a shopping mall. "We plan to start the project in mid-2006 and complete it by 2008," he said.

On the Hyderabad Expo City, CV Ramana, project manager (south operations) of Hyderabad Trade Expocentre Pvt Ltd, an SPV launched for the project, said that the Expo City in Hyderabad will house multi-cuisine and fast food restaurants, discotheques, pubs, a health club, kids' recreation centre, an international business centre, a roof-top swimming room among others.

Besides, the centre has attracted major brands like Sangeet Sagar, Pizza Corner, Subway, Coffee World and Candy Treats, and souvenir shops like Kalanjali and fashionwear brands such as Zodiac, Cottons by Century, Derby and Gini & Johnny etc. "Talks are on with other major national and international brands," he said, adding that the recreation centre would be inaugurated by this December.

Ramana said that the group was planning to foray into the Kerala market as well.

"We are in preliminary talks with Kerala Tourism for setting up an Expo City in Kochi," he said. He, however, refused to spell out the time-frame or the investments lined up for the Kochi project.