Chandigarh based Stellent Infrastructure Ltd signed a deal with the Special Area Development Authority (SADA) on July 17 last year with a plan to make Counter Magnet City a digital city.
“When I came here in May-June last year, I saw great potential for modern education in this town. The city (Gwalior) has infrastructure for education but it is not linked to markets. I have planned a digital university, which will train non-skilled graduates to have access to the digital world like digital cinema, animation and gaming. I have plans to invest Rs 3,000 crore and I am in talks with companies like Nokia to persuade them to set up their research and development centre here. But I am waiting for an allotment of 1,000 acres despite having deposited Rs 2 crore as advance,” says Jagjit Singh Kochar, managing director of the company.
It is not just Stellent; a number of companies are in the fray to acquire land in CMC but slow government procedures, politics and red tape are making it difficult for industry to invest in the past 20 years.
The SADA has its own reasons. “We go by rules, there are a number of real estate players who want land but we offer them only through bidding. Big companies like Sahara and the Ansals have been allotted 104 acres and 45 acres, respectively, in the CMC through the bid process,” said Jai Singh Kushwaha, chairman of the SADA.
Further, 600 hectares of land holding is a big hurdle for development. The private developers want to involve farmers in development by offering them temporary jobs, dwellings or hefty compensation -- 25 per cent more than what the government offers.
“I want to involve farmers by offering them good money for their land since I have to launch the project in September this year,” says Sunil Mantri, Sunil Mantri Realty Ltd chairman.
As many as 10 private companies from the knowledge-based industry have acquired land but they have a long wait ahead for good roads, water and power.
The SADA has so far developed 86 km of roads, a water treatment plant that can handle 21 million litres per day and a power sub-station of 33 KV. But this process has taken almost 10 years; Meanwhile, the cost of raw materials has gone up.
Gwalior has earned a bad name because of dacoities and industry normally skips Gwalior due to law and order problems. But during the past four years things have improved. Its location is also now attracting investors.
“Gwalior may give more returns than any other town in Madhya Pradesh since it is in close proximity of Delhi,” says an industrialist who has plans to invest Rs 266 crore in a real estate project.
Companies like SKS Ispat and Power Ltd also have plans to invest Rs 19,000 crore in the nearby Malanpur area.
“We feel helpless because of government procedures; otherwise Gwalior can be on the world map in terms of modernisation,” says Kochar.
Last month a government-sponsored meet attracted investors from all over India. A number of them signed deals with the state government.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan ensured them by saying, “Gwalior is now free from the dacoit menace and law and order has been restored.” But he might have no answer for an industrialist who quipped, “Who will ensure law and order in the bureaucratic system?”
