Chauhan inaugurates FDI-promoted township project in Indore

Indore, May 7 (UNI) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan today inaugurated the first-ever foreign direct investment (FDI) promoted integrated township project 'Silver Springs' here.

The US 180 million dollars project, spread over 137 acres, is a joint venture between Indore-based real estate firm M Jhaveri Group and Mauritius-based real estate equity fund Fire Capital. The ratio of investment is 51:49 basis and will be carried out through their joint company Silver Realties&Infrastructure Private Limited (SRIPL).

The project will be the first in a series of investments that Fire Capital plans in India. The company has plans for investments in Chennai, Banglore, Nagpur, Jaipur and Dehradun.

In Madhya Pradesh, the fund intends moving to Bhopal, Gwalior and Jabalpur as well.

Meanwhile, local representatives, led by Indore MP Sumitra Mahajan, alleged that the project has been planned without basic infrastructutre requirements in place.

The Indore Development Authority (IDA) had submitted proposals to the state government for setting up 'Transport Nagar', but was denied permission to proceed on account of legal hurdles.

''The 2011 master plan had earmarked the area (of the project) for the purpose of setting up a Transport Nagar. But the permission was denied to IDA,'' IDA sources told reporters here.

On the other side Om Chaudhry, Managing director of Fire capital dubbed the allegations as mere political stunts and was seen confident about the successfull completion of the project.

''All these dissents have come from narrowed political mindsets who wishes to pave roadblocks in the project path. SRIPL will be using futuristic methods for the project where no room will be given to the present allegations'', he said.

The Indore project had availed its clearence from Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) cleareneces on last Saturday which was pending with the Ministry of Union Environment and Forestry for the past six months.

Located on the Agra-Mumbai bypass road, the project has been slated to comprise residential, commercial and retail segments. The township will comprise over 1600 residential units in a range of 17 lakhs to 81 lakhs per apartments and is mainly meant for high networth individuals, sources said.

This apart, the project has also been slated to impart work space for nearly 25,000 workers in the IT and IT-enabled service sectors (ITES).

The state government had accorded a 'mega project' status for the project as the project is expected to contribute to infrastructure development and revenue of the state, said Om Chaudhry, managing director of Fire Capital.

UNI