Chennai Update I - project news from Chennai

[centralized pandemonium]

That looks cool, how tall is the tallest tower going to be?

[Suncity]

Originally Posted by mainhoonna

That looks cool, how tall is the tallest tower going to be?

Dunno! If they had some figure I would have posted it.

These companies are so stingy about heights and pics.

[Citi-Zen]

that looks good...

but where are they going to find water for all those lakes and canals in the rendering in water-starved chennai??? Any updates on the desalination plant that was coming up in Chennai???

[Azhagan]

The proposed new grade seperators and flyovers in chennai,
foundation stone was laid on 1st feb by kalignar,
start of work at site on 1st march 2004
the project is to be completed in 24months,
budget: 200 crores.






ithu thanda chennai...how is it!!!!

[drwho]

nice pics Arun!

[centralized pandemonium]

Originally Posted by Arun@Edinburgh

The proposed new grade seperators and flyovers in chennai,
foundation stone was laid on 1st feb by kalignar,
start of work at site on 1st march 2004
the project is to be completed in 24months,
budget: 200 crores.






ithu thanda chennai...how is it!!!!

Hey Arun, enna oor, Madras aa? Great pics, btw.

[Fusionist]

Padi junction as of now. I am not sure how the govt is going to get all that space to build the island/flyover

[thalaiva]

When will we learn to drive in an orderly manner on the roads? Maybe once the roads improve. :o)

[Fusionist]

Originally Posted by thalaiva

When will we learn to drive in an orderly manner on the roads? Maybe once the roads improve. :o)

vaanga thalaiva neenga vanthutta ellam sariya poydum

[centralized pandemonium]

Originally Posted by thalaiva

When will we learn to drive in an orderly manner on the roads? Maybe once the roads improve. :o)

Welcome to the forms thalaiva. Hope you have a nice time here.

[centralized pandemonium]

Originally Posted by Fusionist

vaanga thalaiva neenga vanthutta ellam sariya poydum

Hopefully.

[Azhagan]

THE HINDU- 09/02/05

Roadwork yet to be put in fast track mode

By T.S. Shankar



CHENNAI, FEB. 8. Though Tamil Nadu boasts of attracting major investments by information technology companies, work on 20-km road between Madhya Kailash and Siruseri on Old Mahabalipuram Road has still not been put in the "fast track mode."

Enquiries withofficials reveal that the "concessional agreement" for the Rs.100-crore project has not yet been signed by the Chief Minister even though the estimates and drawings were submitted for executing the project.

The Tamil Nadu Road Development Company (TNRDC), which is entrusted with the task of the project, is working round the clock removing semi-permanent and permanent unauthorised constructions or fixtures to pave the way for a six-lane carriageway.

"The TNRDC has taken extra effort to see that the Tamil Nadu Government's IT corridor road, a pet project, does not suffer on any account. We will go all out to make it a model IT corridor road for other States," the sources said.

Progress beyond Taramani


The TNRDC has made progress beyond Taramani, especially the stretch between Sholinganallur and Karapakkam, widening the road. But there is less visible development between Madhya Kailash and Taramani,where there is a cluster of research and educational institutions. "Without handing over the required land, free of encroachments and other impediments, how can the road development work be awarded," a source asked, adding that a high power task force headed by the Development Commissioner was constituted to monitor the implementation of the project.While the city traffic police have effected certain changes for regulating traffic near the Madhya Kailash junction, the number of vehicles commuting on this road, especially during peak hours, has increased sharply. The problem is further compounded by haphazard parking beyond the Tiruvanmiyur MRTS station.

[kshatriya]

Originally Posted by Fusionist

vaanga thalaiva neenga vanthutta ellam sariya poydum

naan tamil slow-aa marindu poida porain!

[Azhagan]

Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Thursday urged the Union Government to take up a new international airport of world class standard at Chennai.

The Chief Minister also requested the Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas to help Tamil Nadu for establishing Liquefied Natural Gas Terminal at Ennore near the City.

In a memorandum submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Chief Minister said the state government would undertake the land acquisition on payment of cost to provide the land for airport facility. “This had already been indicated to the Ministry of Civil Aviation,” she added.

Stating that Chennai City, the eastern gateway to the world, was a major hub with flights to all parts of the world, she said though the modernisation of both the Kamaraj Domestic Terminal and Anna International Terminal had been up, the facilities available were not of world class.

“Chennai is also a major centre and its traffic potential is most encouraging,” she explained.

Chief Minister said Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) had already commissioned UK-based M/s Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick to prepare a report on modernisation.

“The report had favoured the construction of a new world class international airport at Chennai. For this privately owned land was to be acquired to the extent of about 1000 hectares. The report is currently with the Union Government,” she said.


will the union government agree for this proposal?????????

[thalaiva]

Thanks for the welcome guys. Nandri..Vanakkam... I think that if JJ contributed 20% of her personal wealth Madras Airport can be made world class. I am ashamed of the Chief Ministers of Chennai JJ and KK. They should fix the water problem first and construct desalination plants. When countries in the Gulf have no water problem why should we have water problems?

[monyaam]

well JJ requesting for a new Intl. airport in chennai has been going on for quite sometime. Its either JJ is not serious about pushing hard to get the clearance for the project or Central Govt. isn't.

Chennai Intl. airport isn't too bad with the new extended Intl terminal. The govt. should be focusing more on building the IT expressway, desalination plant, more flyovers(perambur flyover has been incomplete for several years), improving facilities in the burbs(drainage,roads etc.).All of these would attract more investments and make the city more liveable.

[Azhagan]

yes its true, but if we gave one more world class airport it will bring pride to chennai..

now they have started a new airport project in bangalore,once it is completed , it will be one of the world class new airport in india,and cos of that chennai airport may loose few things..

for ex, colombo airport is the best in that region so it has many advantage, in order to capture those benefits only they are asking for a new world class airport in chennai..

[Azhagan]

they are asking for quite long time, it was started during previous karunanidhi's period, and JJ is also contiuing the same...it all depends on central govt's hand....

but since they are planning to lease out chennai airport , they think it is not the right time for start constructing a new airport

[Azhagan]

IT Corridor — how far have we reached?

WHAT IS the current status of the IT-corridor planned in Chennai? This is the question topmost on the minds of industry people and watchers alike. And it crops up every time one drives through the Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR).

The state government announced its intention to create a world-class IT Corridor on OMR more than a year ago. It backed up its statement by selling plots located on the OMR to IT companies. The plan was to have a world-class urban expressway with well-maintained landscaping on the IT corridor.

To ease the congestion in the city the government also decided to permit developers to build residential complexes along OMR. Selling of plots to both IT companies and residential developers started off in full spree, but not the six-lane expressway.

The Tamil Nadu Road Development Company (TNRDC) came out with a statement in April 2004 that the work will begin in June 2004 and it will be completed by March 2005. In the first phase, the TNRDC would take up the 20-km stretch starting from the Madhya Kailash junction to Siruseri.

In the second phase, the road from Siruseri to Mahabalipuram would be developed. It also said a corridor would be developed as a toll road on global standards. Of the Rs.100 crores estimated for the first phase, Rs. 30 crores would be spent on converting overhead cables running through the corridor into underground ones. The company would also set up a bay-side park on a three-acre plot with public and private participation. Now that was the plan.

What's the scene on the ground? Of course, land was sold to IT companies and residential buildings. But the crucial part of road infrastructure has been delayed. Meanwhile, all the publicity about the development of the IT corridor lead to an unrealistic increase in land prices in areas surrounding, and on the OMR. Land prices in this 40-km highway have more than doubled in the last couple of years. Prices began to rise soon after the State Government declared the road as the IT Highway with the subsequent announcement for developing the same road into a six-lane highway. Land values skyrocketed with top-notch IT companies queuing up to have their offshore software development centres located there.

The speed with which the State Government promoted the Siruseri IT Park and the public announcements made by the IT companies on their investment commitments fuelled the land trend further. The initial stretch of 3-4 km on this road (from the Tidel Park) has been the most sought after area during the last two years.

As a result, the prices here have increased from Rs.1-3 crore to Rs. 3-5 crore per acre. The next pocket — Sholinganallur — also witnessed a substantial growth from Rs. 50 lakh to over Rs. 2 crore per acre. Today even land, which is located beyond Sholinganallur like Semencheri and Siruseri are being quoted at a high of Rs. 1.7 crore per acre and Rs. 1 crore per acre, respectively. Interestingly, the State Government sold land only for Rs.16 lakh per acre at the Siruseri IT Park to companies, which wanted to set up development centres.

Most of the outright land purchases happened about a year ago. Of late, very few transactions have happened, as the prices have reached unrealistic levels. The few that have happened are joint venture deals. Those in the know say that with no buyers coming forward, landowners might now be forced to lower their expectations.

Old Mahabalipuram Road was the most preferred destination for IT and BPO companies mainly because the prices were significantly lower than in the city, according to Ramesh Nair, Associate Director, Jones Lang LaSalle a multinational real estate consulting firm. Today, all the IT and BPO companies located in the IT corridor think twice before taking up another project in the same location.

Learning from the Bangalore experience


Be that as it may, industry watchers say that Chennai will have to learn some lessons from Bangalore and ensure that its infrastructure scales up to meet the projected exponential business growth in IT and BPO.

Although not a problem yet, Chennai could get into a similar situation like Bangalore in a few years if its growth is not balanced with matching infrastructure development.

Bangalore is fast gaining an image as a place with poor infrastructure, high levels of attrition among software professionals, increasing pollution and lack of quality space to expand, according to R. Rajagopalan, Vice-president, Finance and Administration, Cognizant Technology.

However, Sudeep Jain, Managing Director, Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (Elcot), which is the promotional agency designated by the Government of Tamil Nadu to promote IT industries in the State, disagrees that Chennai would go the Bangalore way with a lot of infrastructure-related problems. "We learnt lessons from Bangalore, and have taken care that Chennai does not go the same way," he said.

The city planners need to calibrate how much infrastructure load Chennai can take, and beyond the threshold, development activity should be consciously re-directed to other urbanised cities like Coimbatore, Hosur, Tiruchi and Salem, said Ramesh Nair.

At the same time, the Government needs to immediately repair the 2-3 km stretch from Tidel Park to Perungudi at the earliest rather than wait for the 6-laning of the road, he says. This is important, as most of the IT Park projects on offer in the IT corridor are located in this 2-3 km stretch.

Of course, Vivek Harinarain, IT Secretary, Tamil Nadu Government, is quite hopeful that Chennai would have its IT Corridor soon. "It is only a question of time", he says, pointing out that work on the project has already begun.

There are also plans to utilise the exiting infrastructure in industrial estates at Perungudi, Maraimalai Nagar and Ambattur.

Further, some of the large IT parks such as Siruseri would include both office and housing to ease pressure on the city. The Knowledge Industry Township on the OMR is also planned in a similar way, he said.

The real estate options in the IT corridor are still cheaper than equivalent options in Delhi or Bangalore. Several MNCs are therefore evaluating Chennai for their second phase of growth in India, and developers have already started creating IT-focused developments in peripheral locations. The city will miss the bus if the development of the expressway and other infrastructure is not attended to immediately, say people in the IT industry.

THANKS:THE HINDU

[Fusionist]

Originally Posted by thalaiva

Thanks for the welcome guys. Nandri..Vanakkam... I think that if JJ contributed 20% of her personal wealth Madras Airport can be made world class. I am ashamed of the Chief Ministers of Chennai JJ and KK. They should fix the water problem first and construct desalination plants. When countries in the Gulf have no water problem why should we have water problems?

You mighthave a point there. While JJ is so keen on high flying projects little attention seem to be placed on basic issues like water etc

A healthy balance need to be struck between the two