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Hotmail founder Sabeer Bhatia logs on to realty
By siliconindia
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Friday, 18 July 2008, 19:55 IST
New Delhi: Sabeer Bhatia, the co-founder of Hotmail, is treading to a new space - realty. He has joined hands with realty major Parsvnath Developers to develop a 11,000 acres knowledge city near Chandigarh. For this, Haryana state government has already notified the required land near Panchakula.
In this public-private partnership project, valued at Rs 5000 crore, Bhatia will own a majority stake of 52 percent in the promoting company, Nano city Haryana, while Parsvnath and Haryana government will own 38 percent and 10 percent respectively. The project, being modeled in line with Silicon Valley, will be divided into four divisions - IT, university, airport and biotech.
Pradeep Jain, CEO and MD of Parsvnath said that the company has already tied up with the farmers to acquire around 1,500 acre of land. He said the possession of the tied up land will be taken in the next 6 months.
"The project is expected to attract world-class companies involved in the creation of intellectual property. It will be the future hub for software development, nano science, drug discovery, bio-technology, energy and semiconductor research," Bhatia said. In the initial phase, it would tie up with universities and educational institutions to start their centers in the proposed city.
Parsvnath has acquired the 38 percent equity for Rs 41.5 crore. The company is planning to invest Rs 400 crore in the first phase of the project. It would be completed in two phases over the next 10 years, where the company would develop 5,000 acres in the first phase. Bhatia, the master brain behind the project, was looking for land for it last two years.
