GANDHINAGAR, INDIA | Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (Multiple Towers)

[Jai]

Haven't updated this in a while... first some older news:

This article shows how crazy fast this project has attracted investors. Apparently they're all but sold out -- even before it begins construction!

From Times of India (21 Apr):

Gandhinagar: Less than a year after it was first unveiled in June 2007, the glitzy Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) is more than sold out. That is, if all the MOUs inked actually fructify into concrete committments.



Gujarat’s Rs 63,700 crore GIFT, that’s being designed to give Mumbai a run for its money as India’s financial hub, is “overbooked” with 78 million square feet space being lapped up as against the 75 m sq ft space on offer at the 500-acre international finance hub. Incidentally, only two bookings for a total of 8.5 million sq ft are committed out of the total 24 bookings. What’s more, proposals are still pouring in. “We are getting one proposal daily though we are all sold out,” said a senior official.

GIFT chairman Sudhir Mankad told TOI, “We are on the fast track. The concept design will be ready by May-end after which we will start the process of implementing the project on the ground by appointing agencies to build basic infrastructure.” According to officials, international and domestic players including financial biggies as well as realty giants have booked space at GIFT.

GIFT is being set up by GIFTCL (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City Company Ltd), a 50:50 JV between the Gujarat government and International Leasing & Financial Services Ltd.

A list of the companies that have booked space:


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And from another article about the June IPO

“GIFTCL has decided to apply to Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) by June-end to raise money through the capital markets to part-fund the Rs 12,000 crore investment that would go into setting up basic infrastructure for the project,” a senior state official told TOI.
....
..
Well-placed Sachivalaya sources told TOI that as soon as the basic design of GIFT is ready by May-end, GIFTCL would firm up its IPO plans. When contacted, GIFT chairman Sudhir Mankad confirmed plans for an IPO, but said “details of the plan would be clearer only a month from now”.
...
..
According to officials, the decision to go public has been taken because there has been an “overwhelming response” from top realtors, finance biggies and IT entrepreneurs to GIFT that plans to give Mumbai a run for its money.

Full article (TOI 22 Apr):


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Someone left this comment in my blog. Take it fwiw:

I just returned from Gandhinagar yesterday. I went to the GIFT city site in hte village of Shahpur. The adjoining villages of Vallaj, Ferozepur, have all seen an exponential increase in the value of real estate. The development of the GIFT has started. Initial digging has resumed and the Diamond tower height has been reduced to being 82 storeys on account of the soil conditions.

The entire GIFT project is on wasteland between hte Shahpur and Ferozepur villages. Not one farm has been acquirede for the project. This is the amazing thing. This is the reason why you do not hear any complaints from the adjoining villagers. The price of the land adjoining the project is now between 50 lacs a bigha to 1 crore a bigha( itr was 5 lacs a bigha in September 2007).

The problem that i see is that the farmers are finding it difficult to adjust to this new found wealth. Fianace advice to these people with counselling would help.

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Also, apparently there is apparently a model of the city on display somewhere:

[Jai]

Some major news!

Firstly, the size of GIFT has grown 20%! From 75 to 90 million sq ft of built up area!

Secondly, due to the overwhelming demand (its already close to if not completely sold out),the entire project is going up all at once, not in phases!

And lastly, it seems Diamond Tower has grown even taller -- to 100 stories! Assuming the ratio stays the same as the old design (400m:80fl), the building would presumably be 500 meters/1,640 feet tall!





Gujarat banks on mega projects to lure global investors

Ahmedabad, June 24 (IANS): At the Vibrant Gujarat global investors summit in January next year, the Gujarat government’s accent will be on marketing the $90-billion Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) and the $6-billion Gujarat International Finance Tech-City (GIFT) projects. Officials told IANS Tuesday that besides these two mega projects, the state government will also focus on attracting investments in identified sunrise sectors such as biotechnology and nanotechnology.

The DMIC project, planned on the lines of the famous Tokyo-Osaka industrial corridor, covers Delhi and the National Capital Region around it, as well as the states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

But the maximum area of the project passes through Gujarat - about 40 percent.

The officials said thanks to the DMIC project, Gujarat could have a dedicated petroleum, chemicals and petrochemicals hub in the Bharuch-Dahej area, in addition to another in the Ahmedabad-Dholera stretch.

Besides, it could also build four industrial regions along the corridor.

The DMIC and the special economic zones that have been proposed along the corridor will cover 18 districts and an estimated 75 percent of the population. Gujarat hopes to attract an investment of Rs.2000 billion, estimated to generate 800,000 direct and indirect jobs.

The four industrial regions proposed are the Palanpur-Siddhpur-Mehsana sector in north Gujarat, the Vadodara-Bharuch stretch in central Gujarat, and the Surat-Navsari and Valsad-Umargaon zones in south Gujarat.

Dairy farming, textile mills, salt, ginning and value-added agri product sectors would benefit in north Gujarat, while in central Gujarat, it would be auto components, automobiles, electronics, chemicals, cement and pharmaceuticals.

In south Gujarat, the biotech, ceramic and engineering sectors would reap benefits.

The GIFT on the other hand, according to project chief executive officer D.S. Anjaria, could emerge as the world’s largest international finance centre, sprawled over 500 acres on the banks of the Sabarmati river near Gandhinagar.

The first phase of the project is planned to be operational by 2010, and Anjaria said memoranda of understanding (MoU) have already been signed with realtors to develop 90 million square metres, against the planned 75 million square metres.

“We are planning to develop the project at one time, instead of in phases,” he said. A 100-storey skyscraper - the tallest in India - surrounded by model townships, techno-parks, financial districts, and export-oriented unit parks would be developed.

The special economic zone (SEZ) proposed within the GIFT will have a financial centre, techno -parks, software parks, market zones, money exchanges, service units and education zones.

Anjaria said five Indian banks have already confirmed their location at GIFT, while two foreign banks have shown interest. “Stock markets and commodities markets are expected to come up in the SEZ,” he added.

Anjaria, who is a former chief secretary of Gujarat, said the Vibrant Gujarat summit is the “ripe time to market the project and clinch deals as we will have done much spadework on the project by that time.”

At the 2007 edition of the summit, the state attracted investment proposals worth Rs.4,628.35 billion.

One thing to note, the reporter got mixed up. It's not 90 million sq meters, but sq feet.

[Jai]

Rs 4,000-cr GIFT set to be unwrapped by year end

BASHIR PATHAN

Posted online: Sunday , July 13, 2008 at 03:47:06
Updated: Sunday , July 13, 2008 at 03:47:06

Gandhinagar, July 12 Shanghai inspiration behind structural design of skyscrapers

With the East China Architectural Design and Research Institute (ECADI) busy giving final touches to the detailed structural designs for several skyscrapers to come up for the planned Gujarat International Finance Tec-city (GIFT) project, the work on the Rs 4,000 crore infrastructure component of the project is expected to begin by the year end.

"The laying of internal roads, underground cables and pipes, water supply, sewage, power supply system and so on will begin early this December," said a delegation member.

Recently, Gujarat Urban Development Company (GUDC) Managing Director Srinivas Katikithala went on a week-long visit to Shanghai to hold detailed discussions with a team of ECADI designers and architects on the subject. Srinivas was part of an 8-member delegation comprising consultants of the GIFT project who visited Shanghai early this week.

"During its recent visit to Gujarat, the ECADI team had presented concept designs for six skyscrapers envisaged for the ambitious GIFT project. We went to Shanghai to understand the concept designs, and after prolonged discussions with them, we endorsed the concept," said Srinivas.

"During our six-day stay in Shanghai, we also discussed this and other issues related to the master planning and development of the project with the ECADI team," said a delegation member.

A GUDC official told this paper that the ECADI team of designers will visit Gandhinagar sometime next month when detailed structural designs and other things related to the proposed highrises under the GIFT project will be finalised.

To be benchmarked as "a global finance hub", the Rs 50,000 crore GIFT project is a joint venture between the GUDC and Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Limited (IL&FS) — a leading Mumbai-based infrastructure consultancy firm. It is envisaged to come up on 500 acres of land along the eastern banks of the Sabarmati on the outskirts of Gandhinagar.

A senior official associated with the project said: "One of the skyscrapers envisaged on the GIFT project premises will be more than 80 storeys high, while the rest will be just above 50-storeys. More than 50 such buildings are proposed for construction under the multi-crore state-of-the-art project."

An official said the China Government-owned ECADI is a reputed company credited with the design and construction of 80 per cent of the buildings in Shanghai.

The Gujarat team members also visited Seoul (South Korea) and attended a World Tall Buildings Conference there, he said. "The conference provided us a rare opportunity to interact with some leading world famous developers, designers, architects, planners and technocrats. We also get to know their views on the latest building technology trends in the world", he said. "On the sidelines of the world meet, we also had a chance to interact with the developers of the under-construction 200-storey "Burj Dubai" building — considered the tallest in the world," he added.

Originally Posted by Euromast

[Jai]

Secondly, here are some more project design updates from a presentation given by K.Srinivas, IAS., M.D., GUDC at Stanford University.

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SEZ breakdown:


Divided into...
Processing Areas (125 acre)
•International Financial Service Center (IFSC)
•International Techno Park
•STPI Units - Technology
•International Market Zone
•Exchanges, Service Units
•Inter. Education Zone

Non-Processing Areas (125 acre)
• Utilities
• Integrated Townships
• Entertainment zone
• Hotel/Convention Centre
• Shopping Malls
• Health Services
• Schooling

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A graphical breakdown of land use and built up area use in the project:



• Total road network to be strengthened in two phases:
• 2 new bridges and 1 river tunnel envisaged
• 7 grade separators planned

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And some transportation stuff...

1. The "living bridge" concept to maximize space use and minimize the negative impact of infrastructure on the city:





2. The extension of Ahmedabad's Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) into GIFT (37km):



3. The extension of Metro Rail System (MRTS) into GIFT:

• Additional link of 25 km between GIFT, Airport, Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar
• Transport Demand Generated by GIFT between Ahmedabad & Gandhinagar
• 2.5 lakhs trips per day one way by Year 2010
• 5 lakhs trips per day one way by Year 2017

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GIFT provides landscaped zones and hierarchy of green space:


City level
• Central green
• Peripheral greens/Buffer greens
• Public greens
• Greenways

Neighborhood Level
• Public greens


-Jai

[Jai]

Ok, lemmie get this thread caught up to date... firstly, this article details the sheer scope of the upwards rescaling of the project, from TOI Print Edition 22 Jul, 2008. (I'm too lazy to dig up the e-paper link, maybe someone else can?)

GIFT goes for study on wind resistance of high-rises

Gandhinagar: The Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT), a joint venture between Infrastructure and Lease Finance Services (IL&FS) and Gujarat Urban Development Company (GUDC), is set to be an engineering miracle.

With proposals to have 312 tall buildings — the tallest being Diamond Tower with 87 floors; another 40 buildings with more than 50 floors and some more with 24 plus floors — GIFT will be hiring a top foreign consultant to ensure that the high rises withstand wind-induced motion.

A high-level GIFT team went for the Tall Buildings Conference in Seoul, South Korea, early this month and had discussions with officials from Cermak Peterka Peterson (CPP) Incorporation, US-based wind engineering consultants. CPP vice-president Dr Roy Denoon agreed to take up the work of what is called “wind tunnel analysis” for the buildings proposed to come up on the 1,000 acre GIFT campus, to be set up next to Gandhinagar on the banks of Sabarmati river.

The GIFT team at Seoul included GIFT consultant Fairwood Ecadi, Consortium representative Ranbir Das, planners Umesh Shrupali, Tarun Sharma and Prakash Gaur, and GIFT director K Srinivas. GIFT sources said while it is easy to have quake-proof buildings, tall buildings should also have the capacity to withstand higher wind velocity.

“Dr Denoon was fascinated that this is for the first time the CPP Inc might analyze one entire township, suggesting wind movement between several high-rises,” an official said.

The engineering jobs that might be accomplished are rounding up the sharp edges of the high-rises, making way for wind to pass through them, and putting up wind dampers at the top of the buildings, which absorb high velocity wind.

And how the overall look has changed after the redesign:

...before..





...after! :cheers1:





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BTW, here are some larger renderings of the old skyline design. I had these saved on my computer, but forgot they were there:








-Jai

[Jai]

And now for the new tower designs -- of which only half of the total have been finalized and released.

My apologies to all 56kers who wandered into this thread...

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GIFT is uniquely divided into alphanumerically named "Packages", which represents one site/project and individual instance of public-private partnership, or just public development for parks or service buildings. At each of these packages, the city developers and/or private investors and architects reached consensus on what the design of the individual tower will be, keeping in mind individualism in design yet with an eye to keeping a harmonious whole.

Here is a location map of all the Packages:



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Package A - School and Library: 17 floors








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Package B - Retail and Residential: 1 x 30 floors, 1 x 25 floors






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Package C - Gateway Towers: 2 x 70 floors/360m high; 1 x 45 floors










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Package D - Diamond Tower: 87 floors/400m












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Package E - Retail, Commercial and Residential: 1x65 floors, 2x60 floors














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Package F - Retail and Commercial: 1 x 55 floors, 1 x 45 floors










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Package G - Hotel and Transport Hub: 1 x 70 floors, 1 x 65 floors, 1 x 40 floors














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Package H - Crystal Towers: 2 x 70 floors, 2 x 50 floors








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Package J - Residential, Retail, Commercial: 1 x 40 floors, 2 x 35 floors, 13 x 15 floors






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Package L - Unknown (Commerical?/Residential?): 2 x 35 floors, several x 25 floors






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Package M - Commercial: 1 x 50 floors, at least 3 x 30 fl





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Package N - Unknown: 26 floors






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Package O - Commerical: 1 x 52 floors, 1 x 50 floors






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Package P - Retail, Residential: 1 x 32 floors, 2 x 25 floors




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Package Q - Retail, Residential: 1 x 35 floors, 1 x 25 floors






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Package R - Commercial: 3 X 32 floors




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Package S - Commercial: 4 X 25 floors, 3 X 15 floors






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Package T - Retail, Unkown: 30 floors




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Package U - Residential, Retail: 2 x 35 floors, 2 x 25 floors






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Package V1 - Riverfront





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Package V2 - Commercial: 62 floors






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Package W - Museum and Convention Center






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Package X - Unkown, Retail: 3 x 55 floors






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Package Y - Commercial, Residential: 1 x 45 floors, 1 x 25 floors, 2 x 15 floors, 1 x 10 floors








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-Jai

[Jai]

So a quick recap of all the released towers...

Final Count of the released towers above 15 floors:
1 x 87fl,
5 x 70fl,
2 x 65fl,
2 x 60fl,
1 x 62fl,
4 x 55fl,
1 x 52fl
4 x 50fl,
3 x 45fl,
2 x 40fl,
3 x 35fl,
4 x 32fl,
5 x 30fl,
~20 x 25fl,
x 25fl,
1 x 17fl,
18 x 15fl
_______

Total 50+ floors: 20

This number is likely to go up, since that the expansion and redesign will have 40 towers > 50 stories tall. There are still a number of the packages whose towers have not yet been released.

I've requested the mods to move this thread to the city compilation forum so that threads on the individual towers can be created.

Cheers,
Jai

[Aleks]

Woah! This is a very impressive project. I would really love to visit it once it's complete or at least half way. It's like Dubai but with better designs. I was impressed with all of the projects! Package O seemed a little too much like they were copying CCTV but when I saw the detailed renderings I was amazed on how they made a similar shape without copying it. Great project.

[Jai]

World’s largest green financial district planned

Source: GLOBE-Net
Published Aug. 21, 2008

A unique ’green building’ experiment is underway to create he world’s largest international financial center and one of India’s biggest ever infrastructure projects. The Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) will occupy a green field site of more than 500 acres in the rapidly developing state of Gujarat in India. It is slated to be the world’s largest international financial services center and IT hub when it is completed in 2017.

This landmark project is an attempt to harness the growth and ambition of India, and direct it toward a concentrated urban setting as the focal point for the future development of the country.

In addition to hosting advanced ICT (information and communications technologies) systems, GIFT will function as an environmentally friendly eco-city, incorporating renewable energy sources like solar power, energy-efficient intelligent buildings and district cooling.

ABB, a world leader in power and automation technologies, was selected by Fairwood India, the project management consultants for GIFT, to design a complete power distribution system for the entire city to international benchmark levels of grid reliability, power quality and energy efficiency.

GIFT will have 104 million sq. ft. of built-up area, largely dedicated towards offices, in a concentrated high-rise setting that will be visually stunning as well as efficient and convenient to live in. The project is in its final pre-construction stages, and work on the ground has begun.

The site consists of about 100 million square feet of commercial and residential floor space, including an 80-storey signature building known as Diamond Tower. The center will dwarf comparable financial districts like London’s Docklands, Shanghai’s Pudong and Tokyo’s Shinjuku.

GIFT is located midway between Gujarat’s two most important cities, Ahmedabad (India’s seventh largest city) and Gandhinagar, and will be linked to both by expressways and mass transit railway systems. The massive development is expected to provide employment for around 500,000 people and homes for about 50,000.

Only 250 of the allotted 500 acres will be developed initially. The total project, including the townships, will be developed over the next 20 years, but the project’s core will lie in the first 250 acres.


Green Building in India

Sustainable urban development is now a key focus of the construction industry in India, with the industry hitting a boom phase. The Indian real estate sector is growing at an estimated 30% and is expected to be worth US $50 billion by 2010.

Increasingly, developers are incorporating energy efficiency and environmentally friendly systems and processes into their buildings, realizing savings of 40-50% in energy costs and similar reductions in water consumption.

The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) estimates the demand for green building materials and equipment will reach US$4 billion per annum by 2010. Despite the growth there are significant barriers to building green, including the increased costs and design and construction skills required. Although architects have been adopting green principles, a widespread, integrated and holistic approach towards construction of green buildings is still in its early stages.

Projects like GIFT will do much to stimulate this component of the Indian economy.

[rpsu]

I visited place few days back and don't see any ground work started. Any idea when would it start?

I also read Gift was planning to go IPO. What is status on it?

[Dylan Leblanc]

This is the location of the project - http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&sourc...,0.027831&z=16

Hmm, not much there.