MNCs flock to India as IT parks redo landscaping

GURGAON: The Haryana government’s ambitious Global Business Corridor is generating interest from multi-national companies spanning IT, ITES and education sectors. In the last one month, the state government has received enquiries about the status of the project from 30 MNCs scouting for office space. The corridor is proposed to be built on both sides of the 135-km long Kundli-Manesar-Palwal expressway, work for which is in advanced stages.

The corridor was conceptualised by the state government to decongest Gurgaon. “A separate business hub was also required to address the innumerable infrastructure problems that companies in Gurgaon have often complained about,” Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda told ET.

Connectivity seems to be the biggest hurdle that the expressway project aims to address. “Once the expressway is up and running, the distance between the international airport and Kundli will be reduced to a mere 30 minutes. This may act as an incentive for global companies to set up base in the corridor,” Mr Hooda said.

Apart from attracting investments from corporates, the corridor is being developed to boost education in the state with emphasis on IT, bio-technology and nanotechnology. The proposed Rajiv Gandhi Education city in Kundli is likely to host some known international universities. “The government has enacted the Haryana Private Universities Act so that private universities set up their branches in the state. The idea is to improve the quality of education.’’

Meanwhile, Mr Hooda is in talks with Graeme Davies, the vice-chancellor of the University of London, for setting up a branch in the state.