1,250-acre township planned in Panvel

In a defining real estate development arrangement Bahrain-based investment bank Gulf Finance House (GFH) has partnered with Mumbai-based realtor The Wadhwa Group to develop an integrated township at Panvel.

A privately held real estate developer, Wadhwa Group will develop the various verticals in the project which is spread across 1,250 acres.

Confirming the association, Srini Gopalan, chief financial officer, The Wadhwa Group, said, “The development documents have been signed by both parties and we are now structuring the nitty-gritty associated with the development. All I can say at this stage is that it’s not an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract nor a joint development agreement. The core infrastructure will be developed by GFH while other verticals will be done by us,” said Gopalan.The integrated township is part of a huge economic development zone (EDZ) planned by GFH, the land for which was acquired over the last 4-5 years. The land parcel is about 7 kilometers from the new international airport earlier announced in Navi Mumbai.

On the financials related to the development deal, Gopalan said that it is currently being worked out and will be in a position to give out concrete details only after the initial study is being done.

As part of the development plans, Wadhwa will be responsible for constructing verticals like practical homes, schools, graduation facilities, grade ‘A’ office spaces, hospitals, hotels, malls, etc. “In all the development area will be 80-90 million square feet (MSF) of which GFH will take 10 msf and balance will be with us,” said Gopalan.

According to a news report in The Hindu (March 8, 2010), construction work on the $10-billion (around Rs. 45,500 crore) Gulf Finance House Economic Development Zone (GFH EDZ) had commenced with the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Ashok Chavan, performing the ground-breaking ceremony.

Spread over an area in excess of 1,700 acres at Panvel, the project is touted to be the country’s largest, foreign direct investment (FDI)-driven integrated development.

The project comprises three distinct components, namely Energy City, IT & Telecom City and Entertainment. On completion, the project will house around 1,40,000 residents and is expected to generate direct employment to over 2,50,000 people and indirect employment to 750,000 people.