Megaproject: Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) -- General Development News and Discussions

[IndiansUnite]

Originally Posted by ..devil..

ok remind me to bump this thread on 2010 lest it goes into archives because of lack of updates.

The project won't go into the archives because it's ON..it really is ON.

2 weeks ago, Mukesh Ambani organized a meeting of the Young Presidents’ Organisation in Jamnagar, GJ. This was attended by 200 people from Nandan Nilekani to Sunil Mittal to Adi Godrej. Amongst the attendees was also Sudhir Mankad - the chairman of GIFT who presented/spoke about GIFT

Sudhir Mankand, chairman, Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT), had an opportunity to showcase the potential of the Rs 63,700 crore project. clicky

[qwertyasd]

It really looks like its ON. Maybe, some of the renderings might be changed but the basic concept remains..

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...ow/2933431.cms

They are also going for an IPO. And seems like construction has begun.

The company is in talks with half a dozen domestic and international financial institutions to raise the funds, he said, adding the company has plans to come out with an initial public offer (IPO) of USD 2 billion, he said.

The company also has plans to set up a a multi-services SEZ with a thrust on financial services and comprising an International Finance Service Centre .

The total cost of this mega project is estimated at over Rs 25,000 crore. The construction work on the project has already started and the first phase of the project is expected to be operational by 2010.

[Frenzyrider]

glass panels not parallel to the ground does not mean that floor is not parallel. An external rendition does not coorelate that tightly with interior design.

I think this is a possible deisgn. Glass panels can be outwardly projected. It is the way they conceptualize it at the end.

Originally Posted by Indrajal.com

Floors are not parallel to the ground?

[indeglow1]

Looks great.If China can execute many many such projects I dont see why this is not possible.

[Jai]

This article states the Diamond tower will be 410m tall. Also reiterates the fact -- a fact strangely lost on some of the detractors here -- that the buildings have already been approved, and again gives the 2009 date.

New collective investment scheme awaits SEBI nod

Tuesday, 08 April , 2008, 08:28


Mumbai: Gujarat International Finance Tec city (GIFT) is planning to raise the equivalent of $ 2 billion (Rs 8,000 crore) through a ‘Collective Investment Scheme’, a fund-raising route little used since the ‘nineties.

(For Indian investors the collective investment scheme (CIS) would bring to mind the infamous ‘Own Your Goat’, ‘Own Your Teak Tree’ or ‘Golden Forest’ offers which promised outrageously high returns to investors over a ridiculously short period of time. Most of these schemes went under, burying the investors’ wealth forever).

GIFT, a joint venture of Gujarat Urban Development Company and IL&FS, has informally sounded out the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on its CIS plan, said Ravi Parthasarathy, Executive Chairman, IL&FS. The regulator has now asked GIFT to file a formal request, he said.

A pre-CIS placement of $ 500 million, which will constitute the “cornerstone investment,” is also part of the plan.

After the goat and teak fiascos, SEBI was compelled to bring this investment animal under its wing.

The CIS was never banned; but it was brought under regulation in 1999. A CIS is an arrangement by which payments from investors are pooled together and utilised with a view to receiving profits, income, produce or property, says the SEBI Web site. Investors do not have day-to-day control over the management of such a scheme.

In the case of GIFT, some of the investors would receive property development rights. The CIS will sell two kinds of units -- Units A will relate to commercial projects that are viable; while units B will relate to commercially unviable projects (such as greening, landscaping) but give its holders property development rights, said Hari Sankaran, Managing Director, IL&FS.

“There is an economic rationale for this,” said Parthasarathy. “Wherever we put infrastructure, land prices go up, not just at a CAGR of 30-40 or 50 per cent, but three and four times.”

“Subscribers can even get to choose the buildings they want to develop,” he said. A trust formed by IL&FS and the Gujarat government will manage the CIS.

Financial services zone

GIFT is developing a 500-acre core world-class financial services zone at a cost of $ 16 billion. This core area will itself be part of a 27,000 acre city-township area located between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar.

There will be 40 different projects within the 500-acre zone. GIFT itself would develop most of the basic common infrastructure.

According to Sankaran the Indian financial services sector will require 1 billion sq. ft of office space in 20 years’ time. GIFT which is being designed for workforce of 3 million has been benchmarked to international standards, he said.

This city would have the tallest buildings in the country, the tallest at 410 metres, with over 30 buildings over 250 metres in height. These buildings have been approved by the State Government already. By mid-2009, the buildings would come up, he said.

[Illusionist]

Originally Posted by Frenzyrider

glass panels not parallel to the ground does not mean that floor is not parallel. An external rendition does not coorelate that tightly with interior design.

I think this is a possible deisgn. Glass panels can be outwardly projected. It is the way they conceptualize it at the end.

thanks for the reply... but i was taking a wild guess about what the questioner was thinking...

[..devil..]

what has not been "approved" mate
the metro's for mumbai, hyd, blore have been "approved" since 5 yrs.
the lanco tower's been "approved" since a year and still no renders.
volkswagen plant was "approved" for AP before being "approved" for other states as well.

to think that a 410 meter tower of such a complex design will be completed by mid 2009(a year and three months left) along with the other 250 meter towers is pure whim and the height of optimism. Hell i dont even think a 250m tower will be ready by then. I hope by mid 2009 someone will quote this along with a completed pic of "the diamond tower" and prove me wrong.

ps: how the hell can something be approved if its waiting for a nod as your headline says?

[ankushgupta]

Originally Posted by Jai

This article states the Diamond tower will be 410m tall. Also reiterates the fact -- a fact strangely lost on some of the detractors here -- that the buildings have already been approved, and again gives the 2009 date.

New collective investment scheme awaits SEBI nod

Are you sure about over 30 towers of hight 250 meters?? cause this really sounds huge. I am not sure even if Hong Kong is having more than 30 towers of height over 250 m. (I could be wrong though)

[ankushgupta]

Originally Posted by ..devil..

ps: how the hell can something be approved if its waiting for a nod as your headline says?

Wow what an idiotic question, that headline is about SEBI node for IPO.

[Jai]

Originally Posted by ..devil..

what has not been "approved" mate
the metro's for mumbai, hyd, blore have been "approved" since 5 yrs.
the lanco tower's been "approved" since a year and still no renders.
volkswagen plant was "approved" for AP before being "approved" for other states as well.
...

ps: how the hell can something be approved if its waiting for a nod as your headline says?

Jeez your grasping at straws...

Project is approved by from the local govt all the way up the chain to state. That means construction is greenlit to begin any time. A Mukesh Ambani or a Bill Gates could theoretically come in and start groundbreaking tonight provided he has the cabbage to pay for it.

The article is about financing. I won't rehash what is pretty explicitly spelled out in the article, so I'll let you actually read it rather than pick and choose words and rant about what you THINK the article is about.

Suffice it to say, with tenants already had all the way into the third phase, investment in the venture is a sure thing, both as a fact and as a solid investment of capital.

ankushgupta,
Yup, its been confirmed in the renderings released and other articles. The other pages in the thread have more details.

[..devil..]

Originally Posted by Jai

Jeez your grasping at straws...

Project is approved by from the local govt all the way up the chain to state. That means construction is greenlit to begin any time. A Mukesh Ambani or a Bill Gates could theoretically come in and start groundbreaking tonight provided he has the cabbage to pay for it.

The article is about financing. I won't rehash what is pretty explicitly spelled out in the article, so I'll let you actually read it rather than pick and choose words and rant about what you THINK the article is about.

Suffice it to say, with tenants already had all the way into the third phase, investment in the venture is a sure thing, both as a fact and as a solid investment of capital.

ankushgupta,
Yup, its been confirmed in the renderings released and other articles. The other pages in the thread have more details.

okay
how about you explain to us why and how they expect to complete thirty 250m buildings and the 410 meter tower in a little over a year. i mean the place should be swarming with construction workers like bees innit. or do they have some kind of super equipment which takes in sand as input and outputs a finished building complete with centralized air-conditioning and internet connectivity surrounded by 100 feet roads for the fortune 500 financial giants who suddenly decided to make a shanty town as their south Asian headquarters.

[Nitro]

Originally Posted by ..devil..

what has not been "approved" mate
the metro's for mumbai, hyd, blore have been "approved" since 5 yrs.
the lanco tower's been "approved" since a year and still no renders.
volkswagen plant was "approved" for AP before being "approved" for other states as well.

to think that a 410 meter tower of such a complex design will be completed by mid 2009(a year and three months left) along with the other 250 meter towers is pure whim and the height of optimism. Hell i dont even think a 250m tower will be ready by then. I hope by mid 2009 someone will quote this along with a completed pic of "the diamond tower" and prove me wrong.

ps: how the hell can something be approved if its waiting for a nod as your headline says?

i agree with u that the deadline seems a bit optimistic, id say about until 2010-2011, until the first phase of this project is complete. but i dont think u shud have any doubts about this project actually coming up, its different from the other "approved" projects across india u speak about.
-unlike Mumbai metro, there is no land acquisition, or soil testing, the site at the moment is barren land. the render for lanco tower is out (maybe u r talking about the APIIC tower), these things take time bro, theres a lot of burecracy involved in the planning stages, be patient
-the govt of gujarat has been the ones leading this project, there will be no hurdles with clearance.
-if u look at their website, they have a got a break down of the timescale of this project, if im not mistake full scale construction shud start in the next month or too.

i also thought the project was too good to be true at one stage, but i done a bit more research, and i can see no reason why this project will not happen.

[IndiansUnite]

GIFT over-booked

Gandhinagar: Less than a year after it was first unveiled in June 2007, the glitzy Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) is more than sold out. That is, if all the MOUs inked actually fructify into concrete committments.



Gujarat’s Rs 63,700 crore GIFT, that’s being designed to give Mumbai a run for its money as India’s financial hub, is “overbooked” with 78 million square feet space being lapped up as against the 75 m sq ft space on offer at the 500-acre international finance hub. Incidentally, only two bookings for a total of 8.5 million sq ft are committed out of the total 24 bookings. What’s more, proposals are still pouring in. “We are getting one proposal daily though we are all sold out,” said a senior official.

GIFT chairman Sudhir Mankad told TOI, “We are on the fast track. The concept design will be ready by May-end after which we will start the process of implementing the project on the ground by appointing agencies to build basic infrastructure.” According to officials, international and domestic players including financial biggies as well as realty giants have booked space at GIFT.

GIFT is being set up by GIFTCL (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City Company Ltd), a 50:50 JV between the Gujarat government and International Leasing & Financial Services Ltd.

List of companies that have booked space:


[TOI-Apr21]


Cherry pickings from another article on the GIFT IPO -

“GIFTCL has decided to apply to Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) by June-end to raise money through the capital markets to part-fund the Rs 12,000 crore investment that would go into setting up basic infrastructure for the project,” a senior state official told TOI.
....
..
Well-placed Sachivalaya sources told TOI that as soon as the basic design of GIFT is ready by May-end, GIFTCL would firm up its IPO plans. When contacted, GIFT chairman Sudhir Mankad confirmed plans for an IPO, but said “details of the plan would be clearer only a month from now”.
...
..
According to officials, the decision to go public has been taken because there has been an “overwhelming response” from top realtors, finance biggies and IT entrepreneurs to GIFT that plans to give Mumbai a run for its money.

Full article [TOI-Apr22]

[..devil..]

they should come up with a new name for this brand of reporting, where they sneak in a few lines in such a way that they are completely transparent to the reader yet convey a deeply disturbing fact that has plagued indian infrastructure.

kinda like this

GIFT is overbooked and demand is exceeding supply. *pending signing of MOU's and only two have been signed so far

India will be home to the worlds tallest tower *pending government clearances

odyssey science center will be home to india's tallest building *pending blah blah blah and land acquisition

[Jai]

Someone left this comment in by blog. Take it fwiw:

I just returned from Gandhinagar yesterday. I went to the GIFT city site in hte village of Shahpur. The adjoining villages of Vallaj, Ferozepur, have all seen an exponential increase in the value of real estate. The development of the GIFT has started. Initial digging has resumed and the Diamond tower height has been reduced to being 82 storeys on account of the soil conditions.

The entire GIFT project is on wasteland between hte Shahpur and Ferozepur villages. Not one farm has been acquirede for the project. This is the amazing thing. This is the reason why you do not hear any complaints from the adjoining villagers. The price of the land adjoining the project is now between 50 lacs a bigha to 1 crore a bigha( itr was 5 lacs a bigha in September 2007).

The problem that i see is that the farmers are finding it difficult to adjust to this new found wealth. Fianace advice to these people with counselling would help.

Hitesh Kothari

[bhopalus]

Originally Posted by Jai

Someone lThe problem that i see is that the farmers are finding it difficult to adjust to this new found wealth in by blog. Take it fwiw:

that's quite a dilemma

[bhopalus]

Originally Posted by Jai

Someone left this comment in by blog. Take it fwiw:

wait, it says the diamond tower height has been REDUCED to 82. im not that good at math, but wouldn't that be more like an increase of 2 floors?

[Jai]

From what we here know, yeah

[Jai]

Firstly, apparently there is apparently a model of the city on display somewhere:


--------==--=--==---------

Secondly, here are some more updates on the project from a presentation given by K.Srinivas, IAS., M.D., GUDC at Stanford University.

----==--==-----

SEZ breakdown:


Divided into...
Processing Areas (125 acre)
•International Financial Service Center (IFSC)
•International Techno Park
•STPI Units - Technology
•International Market Zone
•Exchanges, Service Units
•Inter. Education Zone

Non-Processing Areas (125 acre)
• Utilities
• Integrated Townships
• Entertainment zone
• Hotel/Convention Centre
• Shopping Malls
• Health Services
• Schooling

----==--==-----

A graphical breakdown of land use and built up area use in the project:



• Total road network to be strengthened in two phases:
• 2 new bridges and 1 river tunnel envisaged
• 7 grade separators planned

----==--==-----

And some transportation stuff...

1. The "living bridge" concept to maximize space use and minimize the negative impact of infrastructure on the city:





2. The extension of Ahmedabad's Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) into GIFT (37km):



3. The extension of Metro Rail System (MRTS) into GIFT:

• Additional link of 25 km between GIFT, Airport, Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar
• Transport Demand Generated by GIFT between Ahmedabad & Gandhinagar
• 2.5 lakhs trips per day one way by Year 2010
• 5 lakhs trips per day one way by Year 2017

----==--==-----

GIFT provides landscaped zones and hierarchy of green space:


City level
• Central green
• Peripheral greens/Buffer greens
• Public greens
• Greenways

Neighborhood Level
• Public greens

----==--==-----

cont...

-Jai

[Jai]

...cont

----==--==-----

Examples of Building Design Packages:


• Individual developers may develop "packages", meaning individual plots within the GIFT city that have specific zoning, height, use, etc. So as long as developers conform to those package requirements, they may use their own designs, or use use pre-designed building packages concepts
• Land Area varying from 1.8 Ha – 12.9 Ha
• B/U Area varying from 1.2 mn. Sq. ft. – 7.5 mn. Sq. ft.
• F.S.I. varying from 2.5 – 13.7


Example pre-designed concepts for Package A - primary school and library:








--------

Example pre-designed concepts for Package B - residential and retail:





----==--==-----

Designs of Landmark Buildings

Unlike the design packages, the Landmark Buildings will be constructed by GIFT Ltd. (the public-private venture), though I would assume with input from the the tenants.

The designs of the landmark buildings (viz. Diamond Tower, Gateway Towers, Crystal Towers and the Transport Hub tower) have gone through 2 iterations. The original designs below are depicted in the video and its screencaptures I had posted earlier in this thread.

The presentation has much more detailed depictions of these original designs. The new designs are far, far better in my opinion. I've added them as well for comparison to the old.


Again, before anyone flips out, the renderings posted below are OLD. They have been REDESIGNED. So if someone still wigs out and asks if these are new designs, I reserve the right to e-punch you in the teeth.

Old design for Transport Hub/Hotel:









New design:


--------

Old design for Crystal Towers:







The Crystal Towers have been deleted in the new version of the project. The row of waterfront commercial towers, however, are similar in height, and some seem to be inspired by the old facade, though the use of glass in the facade is much more extensive:


--------

Old design for Gateway Towers:







New design for Gateway Towers:


I don't buy the bullshit "inspired by the Gateway of India" explanation for the old Gateway Towers design -- it looks like every other skyscraper proposed in China and Korea. The new design looks a 100 times better. Far more elegant and in-tune with the skyline than the bland and blocky old version

--------

Old design for Diamond Tower:













New design:






Of all the proposals, I like the old Diamond Tower design the least. The new design again is a 100 times better than the old one. Far more iconic, far more revolutionary in design, and far, far more balanced as a pinnacle in the skyline.

Note how well the new Sig Towers and the Diamond Tower complement each other in the new plan. Totally no chemistry between them in the old one.

----==--==-----




My verdict on the old designs... yeah they're modern, but Jesus they're terrible.

ECADI's original proposal looked to replicate Shanghai in Gujarat. And not just SH's impressive infrastructure, but also its kind of super tall but super bland blah architecture that's going up everywhere in modern China and elsewhere in the world.

The old designs aren't culturally relevant, together as a whole looks oppressive on the skyline, and does not at all look extraordinary in the world cityscape.


The new designs beautiful. They are far more interesting, and they are far more pleasing to the eye and more balanced as a skyline whole. If they were done by ECADI as well, I'm impressed at the sea-change in perspective, though other architects may also be involved. The new Gateway Towers and Diamond Tower in particular look grand in the final version.

What's great about the GIFT plan is the allowance of developers to plan their own architecture through the design package framework. As such, the end result will be a far more organic looking city, doing away with the 'Simcity'-like architecturally repetitious plague of many megaprojects. With individual developers designing to compete against each other, it will also ensure top-quality architecture, materials and design.


Just my 2 paisa,
-Jai