HYDERABAD: The much-hyped Fab City whose foundation stone was laid by chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy recently has run into roadblocks.
The promoters  Vinod Agarwal and associates  have still not been able to sew up the $3 billion fund required for taking the project forward. Without any evidence of this happening, the government is not keen to part with land for the project.
The project has also been hampered by the non-announcement of a semi-conductor policy by the central government and intellectual property rights issues regarding the technology to be used by SemIndia.
Promised by telecom & IT minister Dayanidhi Maran, the semi-conductor policy would lay down the incentives that the government would give and help financial closure of the project.
As per the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the state government and SemIndia, the anchor client in Fab City, the government would allot 1,200 acres at Tukkuguda in Maheshwaram mandal in addition to providing various tax incentives and subsidies.
"There are several issues that are yet to be sorted out. We can't give away land just like that. Certainly we can't hand over the 1200 acres at one go," a senior official said.
With the promoters lobbying hard for the transfer of the entire land, the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) relented and agreed to allot 300 acres in the first phase.
"The current allotment (300 acres) is more than enough for them to get the special economic zone (SEZ) status. Subsequently, we will allot additional land based on the progress made in the project," an APIIC official said.
Suggesting that Agarwal is not happy about the 300 acres and was lobbying hard, an official said: "He (Agarwal) is asking for the entire land as his organisation has to appoint a consultant for finalising the master plan for the entire project.
But when we are yet to get fully satisfied, we can't let an asset go out of the government's hands." In spite of best efforts, Vinod Agarwal was not contactable. But a SemIndia official told TOI: "We are working on the project and we see no problem in getting the land as things progress."
The objections being raised by the officials are much more broader than just the issue of finances. The intellectual property (IP) issue still continues to bother the officials.
This should be seen in light of the previous news posted
The promoters  Vinod Agarwal and associates  have still not been able to sew up the $3 billion fund required for taking the project forward. Without any evidence of this happening, the government is not keen to part with land for the project.
The project has also been hampered by the non-announcement of a semi-conductor policy by the central government and intellectual property rights issues regarding the technology to be used by SemIndia.
Promised by telecom & IT minister Dayanidhi Maran, the semi-conductor policy would lay down the incentives that the government would give and help financial closure of the project.
As per the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the state government and SemIndia, the anchor client in Fab City, the government would allot 1,200 acres at Tukkuguda in Maheshwaram mandal in addition to providing various tax incentives and subsidies.
"There are several issues that are yet to be sorted out. We can't give away land just like that. Certainly we can't hand over the 1200 acres at one go," a senior official said.
With the promoters lobbying hard for the transfer of the entire land, the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) relented and agreed to allot 300 acres in the first phase.
"The current allotment (300 acres) is more than enough for them to get the special economic zone (SEZ) status. Subsequently, we will allot additional land based on the progress made in the project," an APIIC official said.
Suggesting that Agarwal is not happy about the 300 acres and was lobbying hard, an official said: "He (Agarwal) is asking for the entire land as his organisation has to appoint a consultant for finalising the master plan for the entire project.
But when we are yet to get fully satisfied, we can't let an asset go out of the government's hands." In spite of best efforts, Vinod Agarwal was not contactable. But a SemIndia official told TOI: "We are working on the project and we see no problem in getting the land as things progress."
The objections being raised by the officials are much more broader than just the issue of finances. The intellectual property (IP) issue still continues to bother the officials.
This should be seen in light of the previous news posted