Chandigarh, June 3
While it is almost certain that the Sabeer Bhatia-promoted Nano City will be set up in Panchkula district, the
possibility of this project taking shape in the Morni hills is remote.
According to sources, a site has been selected between the Tangri and Dangri rivulets in Raipur Rani block of Panchkula. The site, about 350 acres, was selected by the Joint Working Group, headed by Mr P. K. Chaudhery, Secretary, Industries, Haryana, during its meeting on Thursday. Mr Bhatia and four of
his representatives also attended the meeting.
The Morni hills have been ruled out as a site for Nano City because of a severe water shortage, unavailability of power and the problem of frequent landslides during the monsoon. It is also an ecologically sensitive area, and having consolidated land there would not have been possible.
The Joint Working Group, which includes the Managing Director of the Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation, Mr Rajiv Arora, the Chief Administrator, Haryana Urban Development Authority, Mr S. S. Dhillon, and the Chief Town Planner, HSIDC, Mr Surjit Singh, besides four representatives of Mr Bhatia, is also learnt to have arrived at a mandate to prepare a preliminary feasibility report and the financial requirements for the project. The sources said the report would now be sent to the Haryana Investment Promotion Board (HIPB) for its final approval. "The report is recommendatory in nature. The final decision will be taken by the HIPB, headed by the Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda," said a top official.
Senior officials said Mr Bhatia had initially proposed that the land for Nano City should be allotted in the National Capital Region. However, considering the escalating cost of land in the NCR, the HSIDC had been pushing Panchkula for this project.
The Joint Working Group zeroed in on Panchkula district for setting up the project only after it had examined several sites in the NCR, specifically in Gurgaon.
It was three months ago that Mr Bhatia had approached the Chief Minister and discussed his proposal to set up Nano City at an estimated cost of $2 billion.
The latter immediately approved the project, and a Joint Working Group was set up to identify the
site and study the feasibility of the project.
With nanotechnology being the technology of the future, the setting up of Nano City in Panchkula will not just impact the IT parks of Panchkula, Chandigarh and Mohali but also aid the textile industry of Punjab and Haryana.
