Monday, June 18, 2007

Mysore Road-Magadi Road arc to host IT corridor

The new boomtowns in Bangalore

Bangalore: IT majors crying for space in Bangalore can say cheers: a 1,000-acre dedicated hi-tech corridor has been proposed between Magadi Road and Mysore Road for clean industries in the Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP). The corridor will be 17-29 km from the city centre and will house IT and IT-enabled service industries. This will ease the pressure on Whitefield and Electronic City areas, where the IT industries are concentrated.
The corridor was proposed and integrated with the Master Plan 2015 prepared by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA). It was approved by the state cabinet on Friday. The government has asked the BDA to fast-track this corridor. BDA commissioner M K Shankerlinge Gowda told Sunday Times of India that the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board will be asked to start land-acquisition process by next week as BDA is to receive revised CDP from the government by then.
The corridor will have tall glass-andsteel skyscrapers, with the CDP allowing vertical growth in this zone. The floor area ratio has been doubled to four now. The additional FAR has been granted as the minimum width of roads stipulated here is 100 ft. “The proposal is to set up 10 integrated townships of 100 acres each with international-standard amenities. They will be developed through a global tendering process. Ten top-of-the-line developers will be short-listed. The concept is plug-and-play for offices, Gowda said.
The BDA doesn’t foresee any land acquisition issues as the corridor area has been marked clean-industry zone. The BDA will share developed land with landowners here. “It’ll be on 60:40 ratio, and land owners will gain,” Gowda said.
The corridor can become an instant hit, say industry pundits. Water, infrastructure and space have been addressed. Dearth of water and infrastructure issues raised by IT industry captains in Whitefield and Electronic City belts have been addressed here.
The Master Plan has drawn up a connectivity network. The existing Bangalore-Mysore four-lane road, Mysore-Bangalore double-track, monorail connectivity, Peripheral Ring Road, Satellite Town Ring Road, BMICP road and NHAI’s proposed Intermediate Ring Road will ensure smooth movement of traffic.
FINDING A NEW HOME
Hi-tech corridor will have 10 integrated parks, each of 100-acre size on either side of a six-lane road
60% area earmarked for residential purposes and guest houses; 37% for office space
3% for commercial development, including shopping malls and multiplexes
What they say
The focus currently is on the southeast quadrant and towards Devanahalli airport. Besides, developing infrastructure along the Mysore Road-Magadi Road corridor is a far cry, considering the delays we are seeing in building the infrastructure to get to the upcoming airport. — Juggy Marwaha, head, sales, RMZ, a commercial property development company
Any initiative to create new infrastructure is welcome. But we need to do it with speed, planning and transparency. — Kris Gopalakrishnan, president, Infosys Technologies
Instead of the government diverting its focus, it should allow the Nandi corridor to be completed. — Mohandas Pai, director, HR, Infosys

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