Gujarat
govt. wants takeover of NRI's Infocity by Sept 4
Florida NRI Dilip Barot
- considering legal action
Gujarat govt wants takeover of Infocity by Sept
4
GANDHINAGAR, Aug. 29, 2008
TNN
Accusing the developers of violation of contract,
the Gujarat government has plans to take possession of Infocity,
the first and only IT enclave in Gujarat, spread over 135 acres
of prime land in Gandhinagar.
In two separate notices, the government has asked the developers
- Creative Choice Limited (CIL), subsidiary of a Florida firm
owned by NRI Dilip Barot - to transfer the entire project by September
4. The project was conceived during the regime of former chief
minister Keshubhai Patel, but suffered a setback during the 2001
earthquake.
The first notice seeks to terminate the concessional agreement
of year 2000 between the CIL and Gujarat Informatics Limited (GIL),
saying the developers have been breaching agreement clauses. The
second one is for terminating the master lease agreement of year
2001, saying the "CIL would have no further rights on the
project or the project site".
Even while seeking appointment of an arbitrator to resolve the
dispute, the CIL is considering legal action. CIL executive director
Hiten Barot told TOI: "We would prefer an amicable solution."
Currently, major IT companies, including Microsoft and Tata Consultancy
Services, are operating out of the three towers while the fourth
one is nearing completion. Many BPOs are also located on the campus.
The 32-year lease to the CIL states that Infocity would be developed
as per "market requirement", and certain areas would
be developed for non-IT commercial use - entertainment, public
facilities and residential complexes.
IT king’s jacuzzi sank a high-rise
March 5, 2001
DARSHAN DESAI & JOYDEEP RAY
Had it not been for the earthquake on January 26, businessman
Hitendra Barot, among the residents of Mansi Complex, would have
well been anointed Gujarat's infotech czar. Out of the rubble
of the Mansi Complex is emerging details of the reason part of
the 10-storeyed building crumbled, and the story of the man who
would have fathered Gujarat's infotech revolution.
The earthquake pulled down the complex and scalped eight members
of Barot's family, including his wife Kalpanaben. He himself sustained
bruises.
Now, investigations trace the building's fall to a 25,000 litre
water tank supporting a huge jacuzzi that Barot had installed.
His penthouse also contained a 5,000-litre Syntex tank, apart
from a common 60,000 litre overhead tank in the building.
Barot bought two penthouses on the tenth floor and two flats
on the sixth and seventh floors for other family members. And
on the ground floor was the office for his ambitious Infocity
Project.
Barot denied the presence of any such bathing facility in his
penthouse no. 1002. "Even the common water tank of the entire
building was not more than 25,000 litres, and it is impossible
to construct that big a pool,'' he claimed.
"I lost eight members of my family in the crash, do you
think I would put my family and myself to such risk? You can still
check on the spot, half of the building still exists,'' he added.
Police investigations, however, tell a different story. Senior
Inspector of Satellite Police Station F.A. Gohil and a team of
the Forensic Science Laboratory, led by Dr M.S. Dahia, have recovered
three types of tiles from the debris: blue and green coloured
ones used in the bathroom in Barot's penthouses and grey tiles
of the jacuzzi. The police and a team from the Delhi-based National
Council for Building Material also inspected the building.
Investigations suggest that pressure from atop the building caused
it to crumble. The police complaint, lodged by a Mansi resident
on February 2, alleges that besides the use of sub-standard construction
material, the building had six illegal penthouses and four-feet
cantilevers on all four sides.
But then, Barot is no stranger to controversy. He along with
his NRI brother, US-based real estate developer Dilip Barot, is
steering the Infocity Project, touted by the Gujarat Government
as the State's answer to Chandrababu Naidu's IT revolution. No
less than Union Home Minister L.K. Advani had flagged off the
project.
The Barot brothers are close to Minister of State for Information
Technology Bimal Shah. Interestingly, their company, Creative
Choice, was the only bidder left in a global tender floated for
the Infocity Project in 1999. Just a fortnight was given to the
bidders to respond; thus, only three companies could apply —
Creative Choice, Larsen and Toubro and a company with a Malaysian
tie-up.
The other two companies pulled out of the project, and the Barots
were eventually awarded the project. A top government source said,
"L&T may have been persuaded to pull out of the bid,
though officially the reason cited is that the company's hands
were full.''
To be set up on 150 acres of land, the project envisages, besides
IT related infrastructure, building an international school, five
star hotel, budget hotel, service apartments, shopping mall, banks,
post and telegraph office, a multiplex and entertainment mall
and a gymnasium.
Sources close to Minister of State for IT Bimal Shah say the
project was given after due verification of the company's financial
and technical strength. The verification was carried out by Price
Waterhouse Coopers. Shah could not be contacted.
Information technology is unchartered terrain for the Barots.
They specialise in refurbishing old and dilapidated buildings
in the US.
Even the signing of the Concession Agreement in July last year,
the final formality before the Infocity Project took off, ran
into rough weather because the company allegedly demanded major
sops from the government. Barot's chief demand was that the government
should give him completely free-hold land, over 150 acres, instead
of a 30-year lease. This demand was turned down, but the lease
period was extended by 30 years.
Copyright © 2001 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.