India Investment Property

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has decided to go slow on its world city project in Bengal.
The conglomerate, with interests ranging from automobile and real estate to IT, financial services and infrastructure, had planned to invest Rs 4,000 crore in Bengal over the next few years to develop the 100-acre IT special economic zone (SEZ) and township.
M&M executive director Arun Nanda had met Bengal IT minister Debesh Das, chief secretary Amit Kiran Deb and tourism minister Manab Mukherjee in December 2007.
The world cities are integrated units which are divided into business and residential zones. They require anywhere between 100 acres and over 3,000 acres.
In Bengal, M&M looked beyond Calcutta to Kalyani and Siliguri for the township project. They have seen locations at Kalyani but thereafter there has been no response from them.
M&M, also known for developing destinations such as Munnar for tourism, is scouting for similar locations in the state. The company had also expressed interest in a hospitality project at New Town, Rajarhat.
The company’s IT arm, Tech Mahindra, is building the Bantala SEZ in over 12 acres and plans to employ 2,000 people in the first phase of 18 months.
M&M has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation to provide consultancy to the state government for setting up eco-friendly infrastructure in the Sunderbans.