NEW DELHI/HYDERABAD: With the semiconductor policy finally getting notified, the Union minister for Information Technology, Dayanidhi Maran, has said he will revive talks to get Intel to consider India once again for a manufacturing facility.

The lack of a semiconductor policy in India had forced the world’s biggest chipmaker to shift consider Vietnam instead some time back.

“We expect that with the semiconductor policy in place, we would be able to attract investment worth Rs 24,000 crore or even more in this sector in the next two-three years,” Maran declared. By March 31, 2010, India will house two-three semi-conductor fabs each with an investment of $2billion-$3billion.

Some of the biggest names in the industry are already making a beeline for India. The semiconductor policy came into effect from March 21, 2007, the minister said, adding that the Department of Information Technology (DIT) would soon be setting up an appraisal committee for the evaluation of the semi-conductor projects trying to set up shop in India. The committee, to be responsible for verifying the projects and forwarding recommendations for approval from the government of India, would be headed by additional secretary in DIT.

The other members of the committee would consist of senior officials from the department of commerce and finance and technology experts as well. The incentives for the semiconductor industry were announced almost a month back. But the DIT is likely to put the details of the semiconductor policy in the public domain only tonight.

The government on February 22 announced that 25% direct subsidy of the capital expenditure can be availed of by semiconductor manufacturers located outside SEZs with no countervailing duty on capital goods and 20% subsidy can be availed by those located within SEZs. For semiconductor manufacturing, the minimum investment for availing the incentives has been pegged at Rs 2,500 crore, while the threshold for other products like liquid crystal displays(LCDs), organic emitting diodes, plasma display panels, storage devices, photovoltaics and other advanced micro and nano technology products and assembly and testing is Rs 1,000 crore.

It has been indicated that the subsidy will be in a combination of tax concessions, interest subsidy and interest free loans. The plants will be able to enjoy the tax benefits until March 31, 2010, the minister said.

The first of the chip-plants to come up in the country is likely to be SemIndia Inc’s $3 billion fab project in Hyderabad. The factory will make chips using 65 nanometer and 90 nanometer technology.

“The notification of the policy opens up a new era in India’s semiconductor quest,” said B V Naidu, managing director, SemIndia Fab City which will house up to eight units. The Fab City has received proposals from four companies to set up units within the complex apart from a gases plant by Linde BOC, Naidu said.

Close to a month after the incentives for the semiconductor industry were announced, the fine print of the semiconductor policy is expected in a week. “We are finalising the finer details of the policy and the policy will be out in a couple of days,” said a senior IT ministry official.

While the macro details of the incentive package were announced on February 22, the finer detailing of the policy, including the combination of equity and interest subsidy in the incentive package, will be announced this week. “The semiconductor companies interested in investing in India have been waiting for the policy and some foreign countries have also shown interest in the details of the policy,” said India Semiconductor Association president Poornima Chenoy. It has also been learnt that a committee for evaluating the project proposals will be set up after the package is announced.

The committee is likely to comprise officials from across the board, including officials from the finance ministry, the IT ministry and industry experts. The policy will define the criteria for evaluating the projects.

The government on February 22 announced that 25% direct subsidy of the capital expenditure can be availed of by semicondictor manufacturers located outside SEZs with no countervailing duty on capital goods and 20% subsidy can be availed of by those located within SEZs. While it has been indicated that the subsidy will be in a combination of tax concessions, interest subsidy and interest-free loans, the policy will clearly define the package.

For semiconductor manufacturing, the minimum investment for availing the incentives has been pegged at Rs 2500 crore, while the threshold for other products like liquid crystal displays (LCDs), organic emitting diodes, plasma display panels, storage devices, photovoltaics and other advanced micro and nano technology products and assembly and testing is Rs 1,000 crore.

-TOI

Bangalore, India — Infineon Technologies is likely to be the technology partner in the Indian semiconductor manufacturing plant planned by Hindustan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (HSMC), a company floated by Devendra Verma, Managing Partner of the California-based investment company, Edgewood.Although Verma, who is the chairman of HSMC, refused to mention any funding or technology partners for the $4.2 billion venture, saying that there was a non-disclosure agreement, reliable sources suggest Infineon (Munich, Germany) is the most likely as the technology partner in the venture.

A formal announcement is expected later this month.

The fab will focus on four products — chipsets for mobile phones, direct to home TV set top boxes, automotive and smart cards. The first line, which would represent an investment of $1 billion, is scheduled to use 90-nm and 130-nm processes and 200-mm wafers.

“We have been working with the government for over a year and we would be making the announcement and our technology partners on March 28. We will be filing the application immediately thereafter and about 4 -5 weeks later we would be finalizing the location of the fab,” Verma said.

Verna has been one of the key players over the past 18 moths championing the case for semiconductor manufacturing in India, meeting with the Union minister of IT and Communications, Dayanidhi Maran.

Sources suggest the Minister will be making the announcement with Verma on March 28. “We were just waiting for the policy to be announced to make our stand on manufacturing clear,” Verma added.

He was referring to the announcement late last month about India’s long awaited semiconductor manufacturing policy, which paves the way for the country to make its mark on the global semiconductor map.

Commenting on the potential here, Verma added: “Take for instance, Nokia. It manufactures about 50 million phones a year and if you take an average cost of the chipset at $20, you have a minimum market size of $1 billion. And, this is just one company we are talking about. Take cars or Direct-To-Home chipsets (with DTH cable players being allowed to sell their services in India) — if you add up all the chipsets that would go into these products, there is a vast potential here.”

Meanwhile the $3 billion Fab city by SemIndia, promoted by a NRI consortium and headed by Vinod Agarwal, is setting up the first phase of its ATMP plant in Hyderbad.

Dr Rajendra Singh, chairman and co-founder of India Electronics Manufacturing Corp is also readying to make an announcement soon. “Once we are fully operational, we would announce when and where we are setting up the fab in India,” he said.

Videocon, Indias largest consumer durables company, as well as Nest Technologies, a leading IT services company from the south Indian state of Kerala, also announced plans recently to set up foundries in India, following the publication of the semiconductor industry policy last month

 –EE Times

Videocon, one of the leading players in the consumer electronics and home appliances segment, is planning to make forays into semiconductor segment. To begin with, Videocon would invest close to Rs 1,000 crore on setting up a semiconductor facility in the country. The company is working on a plan to rope in a technology partner and set up a fabrication facility. However, the details of the technology and the location are still being worked out. “We have entered into an agreement with the world’s biggest semiconductor technology patent owner.

The plan is to make a foray a strong foray into the semicon sector,” Videocon’s chairman Venugopal N Dhoot told TOI. However, he refused to reveal the name of the partner since there is a non-disclosure agreement between the both.

Videocon has also taken over the facilities of global electronics company Thomson for manufacture of picture tubes. “Thomson deal too has brought in some technology that will help us pursue the semiconductor plans. We leverage on those strengths,” Dhoot said.

The group is, however, evaluating the suitable locations and a decision would be taken on it shortly, he said. Though several states have a variety of packages for wooing investors including the fab city in Hyderabad, Videocon is trying to negotiate with each of the states and choose the best suitable location.

“In addition to Hyderabad, West Bengal too is offering an interesting package. We are yet to decide. We will go to a location, which is more attractive in terms of incentives and other packages,” he said. Videocon already has a manufacturing facility at the hardware park on the outskirts of Hyderabad. The company has about 48 acres land that was allotted to it during Chandrababu Naidu’s regime. Of this, the company has so far used about 20 acres.

In order to put to use the idle property, the company is planning to set up an IT park. The park, to come up in the next two years, would be set up with an outlay of Rs 350 crore, Venugopal N Dhoot said.

-TOI

The 162-km long outer ring road (ORR) which is the orbital linkage to the city’s arterial roads, will be completed by December 2009.

A sum of Rs 5,550 crore has been earmarked for the project. Of this, Huda will pay Rs 1,250 crore as compensation and the rest for construction.

In the first phase, works are in progress for the 24.3 km ORR worth Rs 700 crore and are likely to be completed by March 2008. Of the remaining 138 km in phase II, 61 km road network (phase II A) from Narsingi to Patancheru and Shamshabad international airport to Peddamberpet is under the BOT Annuity model. “In 64 villages, land acqusition needed for the second phase is on. Once the land acquisition for this phase is over, the works will begin,” ORR project director Peeyush Kumar said. By June 2009, phase II ‘A’ will be completed.

Construction for phase II ‘B’ from Patancheru to Peddamberpet under the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), will start in September 2007. It is likely to be completed by Dec 2009

-TOI

The Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH) is set to crack the whip on big time builders who deviate from building plans or do not install fire safety equipment and other mandatory facilities.

A new licensing system to be introduced soon will make these builders accountable. Builders taking up high-rise projects, group houses, commercial complexes and apartments will have to get a licence from the MCH to execute these bigticket projects. After several deliberations, a draft on the licensing system for the builders has been prepared and an official notification is likely to be issued in a week.

“We will notify the order on licences in a week. Once it is notified, builders have to submit a licence certificate along with the building application,’’ MCH additional commissioner (planning) K Dhananjaya Reddy told ‘TOI’ on Tuesday.

If builders violate mandatory guidelines, their licence would be cancelled and they will be debarred from carrying out construction activity for five years. A fine of up to Rs 5 lakh would also be imposed on the erring builders.

As per the New Building Rules, which came into existence in March, 2006, it is mandatory for builders constructing apartments or commercial complexes to be licence holders. As of now, only architects and other technical persons take a licence from MCH. Though the building rules said licence to the builder is mandatory and should be introduced with immediate effect, more than 150 apartments and commercial complexes including about 10 high-rise buildings got the nod from the civic body on condition that the builder would get a licence once the policy is finalised.

The draft finalisation took more than three months as there were differences of opinion over the eligibility of builders. As per the proposals, inexperienced builders should be either engineering graduates or architecture graduates. Experienced builders should be I-T assessees as builders for at least three to four years. Some officers pointed out, reputed builders who had done quality work earlier will get priority. The percentage of occupancy certificates obtained in earlier ventures will also be considered. “Some builders who completed earlier ventures successfully can engage qualified people,’’ MCH sources said.

Builders will be graded by a panel headed by the MCH commissioner, and including chief city planner and chief engineer of MCH, representatives of director of town and country planning department.

The government is all set to develop Gopanapally near Gachibowli as a diplomatic corridor with US officials on Tuesday deciding to set up its permanent consulate there.

“After the US consulate is set up, other consulates will have similar facilities in the city. All these consulates would come up in Gopanapally,” a senior official said. It is expected that Australian and Japanese consulates would follow the US facility.

State government officials had shown two sites at Gopanapally to the US officials for setting up of the consulate. While one is adjacent to Microsoft’s India Development Centre, the other one is near the new Wipro facility, about 5 kms from the Microsoft facility.

The US officials, according to official sources, will finalise on one of these locations in the next four to eight weeks and sign an MoU with the government to begin civil works for the building. The two properties suggested is spread across 10 acres each. The permanent consulate is expected to be functional in another 6-8 years.

An interim consulate, meanwhile, will come up at Paigah Palace in Begumpet and is expected to be functional from 2008. “Negotiations with the government are on and the temporary consulate in Hyderabad will be operational from 2008. The temporary facility in a good location will be enormously helpful in moving forward,” Henrietta H Fore, under secretary of state for management, said.

No fixed budget for the Hyderabad consulate has been assigned as of now. “I wouldn’t say it is open-ended, but there is no fixed budgetary so far,” said David T Hopper, consul general, Chennai consulate told TOI. The announcement of the consulate plans was made by US president George W Bush during his Hyderabad visit in March last year.

The setting up of the US consulate together with the country’s open border initiatives is expected to herald a new era in the B2B relations among the two countries.

- Times of india

STANDING TALL: The Charminar stands out in this crowded locality of the Old City. Apart from the pedestrianisation project taken up here, the MCH plans to add several other elements of conservation to preserve the glory of the ancient monument

Battery Operated Vehicles To Be Purchased, Bicycle Zones To Be Created

Hyderabad: With the Charminar pedestrianisation project (CPP) set to be completed by December, the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH) is gearing up to put other elements of the conservation project in place. It has proposed to purchase battery-operated three-wheelers, create bicycle and two-wheeler zones and construct sidewalks around the Charminar to make it a pollution-free zone. Apart from that, the corporation is proposing to purchase 50 mini buses to provide connectivity to nearby MMTS stations.

These will be procured with Rs 18 crore under the Global Environment Facility (GEF) programme funded by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Hyderabad is among six cities selected by the Centre last week for the UNDP programme.

“UNDP will bear 40 per cent of the bill, while the central and state governments and MCH will pitch in with the rest,’’ MCH additional commissioner (traffic and transportation) N V S Reddy told ‘TOI’ on Sunday.

Of Rs 18 crore, UNDP’s share would be Rs 6 crore, the Centre’s Rs 2.17 crore, the state government’s Rs 93 lakh and the rest Rs 8.80 crore would be borne by the MCH.

UNDP supports several ‘green’ programmes across the world which aim to reduce emission levels and protect environment by encouraging non-motorised vehicles.

The CPP would make Charminar area free of pollution and conserve the heritage buildings there. As part of the conservation project, pedestrianisation and beautification of Charminar and Lad Bazar, restoration of Pattergatti facades, heritage walks (which were inaugurated in 1999) and a comprehensive signage system for Charminar precincts were taken up. The char kamans of Gulzar Houz are also undergoing restoration under this project. To restore the old charm of the Charminar area, large hoardings, posters, painted sign boards would be removed from the area.

The MCH has already started replacing overhead electrical and telephone wires with underground cables in that area. Road-widening works around the historic structure are nearing completion.

Once the CPP is completed only battery-operated buses and vehicles would be allowed near Charminar.

Dilsukhnagar - A City Within A City

The evening sun, a bright shade of orange, is ready to slide down the shimmering lake.

A purple little house with equally shiny doors stands not too far away. Welcome to Dilsukhnagar, a little city within the city, one with its peculiarities that almost stare you in the face, typical of a place trying to fit into an ‘image’.

Be it a little sign board that reads dentist, but points towards an under-construction temple or red cheeked men on stilts dressed in cheap satin pyjamas and red satin hats dancing to a Himesh Reshammiya number, in a busy market place.

The gentry of Banjara and Jubilee Hills, knows nothing or very little about this place and Dilsukhnagar is too busy carrying on with its life. So it moves at a frantic pace, as if trying to justify its name. Not too far away from the bustling market are about 20 cinema halls, which religiously play movies of favourite local heroes for a good 100 days.

A restaurant sign board jostles for space with sign boards of schools and universities that you might have never even heard of.

But this is now. About two decades ago, Dilsukhnangar was a little place somewhere on the way to Vijayawada. It was, like a local describes it, “a place where you got nothing to eat after six in the evening”.

Mustafa Kamal who got his first job as a teacher in Mumtaz College in 1967, for example, remembers the place as being a “rather secluded area.” “It was almost a jungle. The few houses here were at huge distances from each other. I remember going for walks around that area”, he says with a chuckle.

Kumar, a 32-year-old driver who moved to Dilsukhnagar about six months ago but visited the place as a teenager to see his cousins, still remembers the fear that cropped up in his mind, every time he had to go to that part of the town.

“It was a quiet little area, with a few slums. And since it was so far away and so quiet, it was a little scary.” Today, Kumar describes it as ‘gold’. And why not, his wife has been running a canteen for a college and the returns are not bad at all. Or take Firoz Khan, a bangle seller who moved from a little bylane in Dilsukhnagar to the main road about five years back.

The sales, he says have been going up, thanks to people becoming fashion conscious. “The watch has moved to the mobile. You can see the time there, so women actually wear bangles in both hands. There are bangles for every occasion. I’ve been in Dilsukhnagar for 15 years but the past three to four years have been great.” Kumar and Firoz are just two of the few lakh people who’ve made Dilsukhnagar their home. It was in the 90’s that the neo-rich from Vijayawada who had the money but not enough education, decided to move to Hyderabad to give their children what they had been missing, a city life and education.

Consequently, schools started mushrooming, houses were erected and shops sprung up. And, people from other parts of Hyderabad realised their dream of owning a house in Dilsukhnagar. Soon, many others followed suit.

Subsequently, the place developed an identity of sorts, as unique as Andhra Tea and the colourful curries that Hyderabadis savour.

Like Srinivas Rao who has been living in the area for the past 15 years describes it: “It’s an urban area in a rural setup. It has everything that a place needs. Shopping joints, restaurants, pubs, houses and yet, the roads are in a bad condition, the power cuts aplenty.”However, that hasn’t deterred big names from setting up shop here.

Any educational institute of repute has a branch in Dilsukhnagar too. If Reebok has a factory outlet, you also have Chandana Brothers luring women with their silks. Of course, none of it is far away from say a Swati college affiliated to some strange university, a floor above a parlour, which has a blue-eyed Amisha Patel complete with her more than ‘solah sringar’ staring with unabashed glory from a bright yellow tin board.

And, it looks like everyone wants a piece of the Dilsukhnagar pie. Agrees Maharishi, assistant general manager, Suchir India Developers.

“There was a time when only lower or middle-class people stayed here. Today, the upper middle-class people are also moving in here. Commercially too, it is abuzz with activity. There are traffic jams at four in the morning and you can get food till 1.30 am. Obviously, it makes commercial sense.”

For some like V Maruti Manoj who works with a call centre in Madhapur, it is a place where he can get whatever he wants. “There was a time when I had to travel long distances to go out with friends. Today, everything is right here, Be it restaurants, movie halls or malls.” The traffic volume at Dilsukhnagar is considered to be one of the highest in the city.

It is the only place in the city that could remind you of Mumbai with its many contradictions, with its pace. Of course, no one seems to be complaining, at least not as of now.

The Consortium of ICICI, Nagarjuna Construction Company and the Indian subsidiary of US-based Tishman Speyers bagged the prestigious 400 acre integrated township at Tellapur on the city outskirts at Rs 4.21 crores an acre. Tellapur is located five kilometres from Hitec City and falls under Medak district. The township will have residential, commercial and recreation facilities.

The consortium, which was the lone company to submit both the technical and financial bids, agreed to pay Rs 21 lakhs above the minimum upset price of Rs 4 crores per acre (Rs 1,686 crores for the entire land) and pay Rs 311 crores to the government under the revenue share component. The consortium will complete 70 per cent of the project in the first phase by 2010 and the remaining by 2014. Significantly, the consortium agreed to clear the 70 per cent upfront payment of the land cost before September 2007.

“The consortium will pay Rs 400 crores towards upfront payment of land cost immediately after receiving the letter of award and the remaining Rs 780 crores by September 2007,” ORR project director Piyush Kumar told this correspondent. The officials were a relieved lot because several real estate giants had backed out of the bid in view of the high upfront payment.

The consortium put the entire project cost at Rs 5,330 crores including the land cost. This is the highest single residential project in the country surpassing the one in Noida where the authorities had put a project of Rs 1,550 crores for open auction. “Though the consortium is the lone company, we have prepared the Request For Proposal in such a manner that the project will take care of majority of our financial requirements for projects like Outer Ring Road. Even the lone company is paying more than what we have envisaged in the RFP,” Mr Piyush Kumar said.

The consortium also agreed to pay Rs 311.10 crore above the land cost as revenue sharing with the government in five years and Rs 100 crore towards interest on all the components. The ORR project received a major boost with the Tellapur bid as the amount would take care of the relief and rehabilitation component.