`2,300-cr business district project to come up in Vizag

Visakhapatnam: Andhra Pradesh government has again revived the shelved business district project in an area of nearly 19 acres at Hill No. 3 of Madhurawada near the IT Special Economic Zone here as a joint venture under the PPP mode. The project has been mooted with an estimated investment of Rs 2300 crore with 26 per cent stake for the Special Purpose Vehicle to be floated for the project with the remaining 74 per cent held by the developer. The project will be in the close vicinity of Rs 21,844-crore Adani Data Park at Kapulauppada and the proposed CMO at the Rushikonda Resorts rebuilt by the AP Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) with an investment of Rs 200 crore. It will also have easy access to the proposed Beach Corridor and six-lane expressway between Visakhapatnam and Bhogapuram International Airport.

AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC), the nodal agency for the project recently issued Expression of Interest (EoI) notification inviting proposals from the interested parties to attract investments in IT, ITeS, commercial firms with auxiliary components for meetings and conferences. The EoI calls for development, construction and maintenance of I-Space Business District under PPP mode. The pre-EoI video conference will be held on October 13, followed by a pre-bidding meeting with prior announcement.

Asked to comment on project, APIIC Chief Engineer (North) Narasimha Rao told Bizz Buzz on Tuesday that the project will be a unique one and is expected to bring a lot of investments to Visakhapatnam. The New Industrial Policy unveiled by the government also speaks about developing I-Space as a startup and incubation zone in the area.

The complex with super-structures has been conceived to act as a state of the art innovation and startup zone with specialised incubators, co-working space and provision to house angel investors and venture capitalists with facilities for handholding and mentoring to ‘technopreneurs.’ It will provide support for functional domains such as IPR, patent registration, case study referral and market strategy development. The notification said the business district at Madhurawada is aimed at providing space for multinational companies and the best in class companies in IT and ITeS players as well as fintech services. An official said bizz towers commercial offices and support services will come up in the area. It may also have hotels and a provision to host meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions as part of promoting MICE tourism.

The project is revived in the backdrop several towers mooted for construction of Signature Tower, Data Tower at Visakhapatnam Special Economic Zone, Duvvada by the Ministry of Commerce, a joint venture between VMRDA and Software Technology Parks of India for a Boeing-shaped tower at Siripuram, the heart of the city, have fallen flat. VMRDA also had earlier shelved a IT Park proposal at Madhurawada in an area of 23 acres after calling for EoI.