Formula 1 impact: Noida races past Gurgaon
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Harpreet Singh Guller
Nov 4, 2011, 12:17:56 AM11/4/11
to YEIDA
Formula 1 impact: Noida races past Gurgaon
The stars have long departed after India's first F1 race last weekend,
but the stardust they have left behind is lending glitter to Delhi's
satellite cities of Noida and Greater Noida. Long plagued by
perceptions of crime and sloth and often the subject of unflattering
comparisons with rival satellite city, Gurgaon, which over the past
decade became the destination of choice in the National Capital Region
for multinational corporations to set up their Indian headquarters,
Noida and its sister city Greater Noida seem to have got a major image
makeover - and over a single weekend.
Images of some of the most photographed faces on the planet -
celebrity race drivers, movie stars and starlets, business tycoons and
politicians - rubbing shoulders against the backdrop of a glitzy
racetrack off a gleaming yet-to-be-opened expressway appears to have
done the trick. The successful execution of the three-day F1 jamboree
from October 28-30 at Greater Noida did not just introduce the contest
of the racing cars to the country; it also showcased impressive
infrastructure development so close to the national capital.
"F1 has drawn attention to the infrastructure in Noida and Greater
Noida," says Anshuman Magazine, chairman and managing director (South
Asia) of real estate consultancy firm CB Richard Ellis. "Its impact
may not be immediate, but in the medium to long term, we should see a
lot of companies wanting to come here."
The smooth access to the venue through Noida, the newly laid track in
the proposed Jaypee Sports City and the upcoming 165-km access-
controlled Yamuna Expressway, which will cut travel time to Agra by
about two hours, provided glimpses into a developing destination where
space is still available.
It helped that the convergence of speed and entertainment, big
business and international glamour at the event ensured rare upbeat
news from India's most populous state that is going to the polls early
next year. Speedier access to the city of Taj Mahal, besides proximity
to Delhi, is causing a virtual stampede of hotel chains into the area.
About 18 new hotels with 4,200 rooms between them are coming up, most
of them along a single road, according to real estate firm Cushman &
Wakefield.
This will be a dramatic shift from the current figures of four hotels
with 300 rooms in all. St Regis, Grand Hyatt, Radisson, Fairfield Inn,
Movenpick, Marriott and Ritz Carlson are some of the brands that will
adorn the 25-km Noida-Greater Noida expressway. Barclays, Samsung
Electronics, Intel and Oracle have set up offices in Noida in the
recent past, says Shakti Nath, managing director of Logix Group, a
real estate developer.
"A number of our investors and FDI partners were here for F1 and have
gone back with a positive mindset about making further investments in
the Noida-Greater Noida region," he says. Manoj Gaur of the Jaypee
Group, which brought the F1 race into India, built the racetrack in
Greater Noida and ensured its successful execution, is more ebullient
about the city's prospects.
"In the next five years, you will see 10 times of what you have seen
in the last five years in Greater Noida," says Gaur, whose firm is one
of the biggest landowners in the area. The change in the tone of the
discourse is particularly startling because it was only this year that
both Noida and Greater Noida were in the news for all the wrong
reasons.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/formula-1-impact-noida-races-past-gurgaon/articleshow/10601198.cms
The stars have long departed after India's first F1 race last weekend,
but the stardust they have left behind is lending glitter to Delhi's
satellite cities of Noida and Greater Noida. Long plagued by
perceptions of crime and sloth and often the subject of unflattering
comparisons with rival satellite city, Gurgaon, which over the past
decade became the destination of choice in the National Capital Region
for multinational corporations to set up their Indian headquarters,
Noida and its sister city Greater Noida seem to have got a major image
makeover - and over a single weekend.
Images of some of the most photographed faces on the planet -
celebrity race drivers, movie stars and starlets, business tycoons and
politicians - rubbing shoulders against the backdrop of a glitzy
racetrack off a gleaming yet-to-be-opened expressway appears to have
done the trick. The successful execution of the three-day F1 jamboree
from October 28-30 at Greater Noida did not just introduce the contest
of the racing cars to the country; it also showcased impressive
infrastructure development so close to the national capital.
"F1 has drawn attention to the infrastructure in Noida and Greater
Noida," says Anshuman Magazine, chairman and managing director (South
Asia) of real estate consultancy firm CB Richard Ellis. "Its impact
may not be immediate, but in the medium to long term, we should see a
lot of companies wanting to come here."
The smooth access to the venue through Noida, the newly laid track in
the proposed Jaypee Sports City and the upcoming 165-km access-
controlled Yamuna Expressway, which will cut travel time to Agra by
about two hours, provided glimpses into a developing destination where
space is still available.
It helped that the convergence of speed and entertainment, big
business and international glamour at the event ensured rare upbeat
news from India's most populous state that is going to the polls early
next year. Speedier access to the city of Taj Mahal, besides proximity
to Delhi, is causing a virtual stampede of hotel chains into the area.
About 18 new hotels with 4,200 rooms between them are coming up, most
of them along a single road, according to real estate firm Cushman &
Wakefield.
This will be a dramatic shift from the current figures of four hotels
with 300 rooms in all. St Regis, Grand Hyatt, Radisson, Fairfield Inn,
Movenpick, Marriott and Ritz Carlson are some of the brands that will
adorn the 25-km Noida-Greater Noida expressway. Barclays, Samsung
Electronics, Intel and Oracle have set up offices in Noida in the
recent past, says Shakti Nath, managing director of Logix Group, a
real estate developer.
"A number of our investors and FDI partners were here for F1 and have
gone back with a positive mindset about making further investments in
the Noida-Greater Noida region," he says. Manoj Gaur of the Jaypee
Group, which brought the F1 race into India, built the racetrack in
Greater Noida and ensured its successful execution, is more ebullient
about the city's prospects.
"In the next five years, you will see 10 times of what you have seen
in the last five years in Greater Noida," says Gaur, whose firm is one
of the biggest landowners in the area. The change in the tone of the
discourse is particularly startling because it was only this year that
both Noida and Greater Noida were in the news for all the wrong
reasons.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/formula-1-impact-noida-races-past-gurgaon/articleshow/10601198.cms
Safal Suri
Nov 4, 2011, 1:02:33 AM11/4/11
to YEIDA
Formula 1 impact: Noida races past Gurgaon
4 Nov, 2011, 05.27AM IST, Ravi Teja SharmaRavi Teja Sharma,ET Bureau
The stars have long
departed after India's first F1 race last weekend, but the stardust they have
left behind is lending glitter to Delhi's satellite cities of Noida and Greater
Noida. Long plagued by perceptions of crime and sloth and often the subject of
unflattering comparisons with rival satellite city, Gurgaon, which over the past
decade became the destination of choice in the National Capital Region for
multinational corporations to set up their Indian headquarters, Noida and its
sister city Greater Noida seem to have got a major image makeover - and over a
single weekend. Images of some of the most photographed faces on the planet -
celebrity race drivers, movie stars and starlets, business tycoons and
politicians - rubbing shoulders against the backdrop of a glitzy racetrack off a
gleaming yet-to-be-opened expressway appears to have done the trick. The
successful execution of the three-day F1 jamboree from October 28-30 at Greater
Noida did not just introduce the contest of the racing cars to the country; it
also showcased impressive infrastructure development so close to the national
capital.
"F1 has drawn attention to the infrastructure in Noida and
Greater Noida," says Anshuman Magazine, chairman and managing director (South
Asia) of real estate consultancy firm CB
Richard Ellis. "Its impact may not be
immediate, but in the medium to long term, we should see a lot of companies
wanting to come here." The smooth access to the venue through Noida, the newly
laid track in the proposed Jaypee Sports
City and the upcoming 165-km access-controlled
Yamuna Expressway, which will cut travel time to Agra by about two hours,
provided glimpses into a developing destination where space is still
available.
It helped that the convergence of speed and entertainment, big business and international glamour at the event ensured rare upbeat news from India's most populous state that is going to the polls early next year. Speedier access to the city of Taj Mahal, besides proximity to Delhi, is causing a virtual stampede of hotel chains into the area. About 18 new hotels with 4,200 rooms between them are coming up, most of them along a single road, according to real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield. This will be a dramatic shift from the current figures of four hotels with 300 rooms in all. St Regis, Grand Hyatt, Radisson, Fairfield Inn, Movenpick, Marriott and Ritz Carlson are some of the brands that will adorn the 25-km Noida-Greater Noida expressway. Barclays,
Samsung Electronics, Intel and Oracle have set up offices in Noida in the recent past,
says Shakti Nath, managing director of Logix Group, a real estate
developer.
"A number of our investors and FDI partners were here for F1 and have gone back with a positive mindset about making further investments in the Noida-Greater Noida region," he says. Manoj Gaur of the Jaypee Group, which brought the F1 race into India, built the racetrack in Greater Noida and ensured its successful execution, is more ebullient about the city's prospects. "In the next five years, you will see 10 times of what you have seen in the last five years in Greater Noida," says Gaur, whose firm is one of the biggest landowners in the area. The change in the tone of the discourse is particularly startling because it was only this year that both Noida and Greater Noida were in the news for all the wrong reasons. Greater Noida made national headlines earlier this year for allegations of police brutality in suppressing farmers agitating against land acquisition in villages just a few kilometres away. More recently, the nearby area of Noida extension was in the news after courts struck down the government's land acquisition. But the afterglow of a successful FI race has helped mute some of the criticism.
"With the world's creme de la creme present, the F1 event was an opportunity for Noida to put up its best show and get over the negative publicity on land acquisition in the recent past," says Anckur Srivasttava, chairman of GenReal Property Advisers, a property consulting firm. When India opened its gates to foreign investors two decades ago, the nondescript industrial township, Noida (New Okhla Industrial Development Area), in Delhi's backyard became home to Honda, Samsung, Daewoo, LG and Timex, among other global brands. Noida's rise also gave birth to its extension, Greater Noida, which was hailed as India's first world city. An expressway connecting Noida with Greater Noida was expected to draw in more foreign investors along the corridor. But even before it was completed, the slide began. Political turbulence and poor governance took their toll on the region along with the rest of the state, with Greater Noida subjected to frequent change of administrative heads, reflecting the sorry state of affairs. While the Noida-Greater Noida region accounted for 80%-90% of the Rs 68,000 crore total industrial investments in the state between 1991 and 1998. Investments in the entire state dried up to Rs 12,000 crore over the next six years.
"Over the years, this booming town lost out due to corruption, crime, politics, poor administration and poorer land acquisition policies," says Rajeev Karwal, who was instrumental in helping Korea's LG Electronics setting up its factory in Greater Noida in the late 1990s. Commercial real estate activity in the region has rallied around the services sector - IT and BPO - over the past decade, as no new major manufacturing unit has come up. Companies like HCL, Adobe, CSC, GlobalLogic and EXL have multiple campuses here. Residential complexes have mushroomed as real estate firms acquired farmland at dirt-cheap prices. Nearly three lakh homes are being built in Noida and Greater Noida, which is expected to double the population of the area in the next three-four years.
Chief Minister Mayawati, at the start of her current term in 2007, revived her plan to build an international airport hub in Greater Noida. The centre's clearances are, however, still pending for the proposal that could have fast-tracked development in the entire region. Yet, the incremental growth, capped by the F1 race, has made investors sit up and take notice. "The F1 race would definitely help strengthen the image of UP as an investor-friendly state and attract international attention," says VN Garg, principal secretary, industry and infrastructure development, Uttar Pradesh government.
Executives at companies that had set up manufacturing plants in Noida in the 1990s, like Samsung, say infrastructure has improved in the area, as have problems related to law and order. "A successful F1 is certainly a big reassurance," says Elkana Ezekiel, chief marketing officer at Samsung India, which has invested close to $325 million in its Noida facility, including a latest investment of $70 million in its mobile phone facility. "The new infrastructure should give a big boost to economic activity in the region," says RK Sharma, senior vicepresident and director, Honda Siel Cars India, which has invested over Rs 1,600 crore in its car plant in Greater Noida. Gurgaon, Delhi's most successful satellite town, as Shakti Nath of Logix Group points out, was developed by private companies like DLF and Ansals which created good buildings and homes but neglected infrastructure.
While the beginning was good, infrastructure in Gurgaon has started to crumble, while Noida has begun to close the gap. And it also helped that its long-time rival Gurgaon was in the news around the same time as the FI race for all the wrong reasons - a concert by American heavy metal band Metallica had to be cancelled amid crowd trouble. The old comparison with Gurgaon, which is much further ahead on the development highway, may not hurt Noida as much now.
"A number of our investors and FDI partners were here for F1 and have gone back with a positive mindset about making further investments in the Noida-Greater Noida region," he says. Manoj Gaur of the Jaypee Group, which brought the F1 race into India, built the racetrack in Greater Noida and ensured its successful execution, is more ebullient about the city's prospects. "In the next five years, you will see 10 times of what you have seen in the last five years in Greater Noida," says Gaur, whose firm is one of the biggest landowners in the area. The change in the tone of the discourse is particularly startling because it was only this year that both Noida and Greater Noida were in the news for all the wrong reasons. Greater Noida made national headlines earlier this year for allegations of police brutality in suppressing farmers agitating against land acquisition in villages just a few kilometres away. More recently, the nearby area of Noida extension was in the news after courts struck down the government's land acquisition. But the afterglow of a successful FI race has helped mute some of the criticism.
"With the world's creme de la creme present, the F1 event was an opportunity for Noida to put up its best show and get over the negative publicity on land acquisition in the recent past," says Anckur Srivasttava, chairman of GenReal Property Advisers, a property consulting firm. When India opened its gates to foreign investors two decades ago, the nondescript industrial township, Noida (New Okhla Industrial Development Area), in Delhi's backyard became home to Honda, Samsung, Daewoo, LG and Timex, among other global brands. Noida's rise also gave birth to its extension, Greater Noida, which was hailed as India's first world city. An expressway connecting Noida with Greater Noida was expected to draw in more foreign investors along the corridor. But even before it was completed, the slide began. Political turbulence and poor governance took their toll on the region along with the rest of the state, with Greater Noida subjected to frequent change of administrative heads, reflecting the sorry state of affairs. While the Noida-Greater Noida region accounted for 80%-90% of the Rs 68,000 crore total industrial investments in the state between 1991 and 1998. Investments in the entire state dried up to Rs 12,000 crore over the next six years.
"Over the years, this booming town lost out due to corruption, crime, politics, poor administration and poorer land acquisition policies," says Rajeev Karwal, who was instrumental in helping Korea's LG Electronics setting up its factory in Greater Noida in the late 1990s. Commercial real estate activity in the region has rallied around the services sector - IT and BPO - over the past decade, as no new major manufacturing unit has come up. Companies like HCL, Adobe, CSC, GlobalLogic and EXL have multiple campuses here. Residential complexes have mushroomed as real estate firms acquired farmland at dirt-cheap prices. Nearly three lakh homes are being built in Noida and Greater Noida, which is expected to double the population of the area in the next three-four years.
Chief Minister Mayawati, at the start of her current term in 2007, revived her plan to build an international airport hub in Greater Noida. The centre's clearances are, however, still pending for the proposal that could have fast-tracked development in the entire region. Yet, the incremental growth, capped by the F1 race, has made investors sit up and take notice. "The F1 race would definitely help strengthen the image of UP as an investor-friendly state and attract international attention," says VN Garg, principal secretary, industry and infrastructure development, Uttar Pradesh government.
Executives at companies that had set up manufacturing plants in Noida in the 1990s, like Samsung, say infrastructure has improved in the area, as have problems related to law and order. "A successful F1 is certainly a big reassurance," says Elkana Ezekiel, chief marketing officer at Samsung India, which has invested close to $325 million in its Noida facility, including a latest investment of $70 million in its mobile phone facility. "The new infrastructure should give a big boost to economic activity in the region," says RK Sharma, senior vicepresident and director, Honda Siel Cars India, which has invested over Rs 1,600 crore in its car plant in Greater Noida. Gurgaon, Delhi's most successful satellite town, as Shakti Nath of Logix Group points out, was developed by private companies like DLF and Ansals which created good buildings and homes but neglected infrastructure.
While the beginning was good, infrastructure in Gurgaon has started to crumble, while Noida has begun to close the gap. And it also helped that its long-time rival Gurgaon was in the news around the same time as the FI race for all the wrong reasons - a concert by American heavy metal band Metallica had to be cancelled amid crowd trouble. The old comparison with Gurgaon, which is much further ahead on the development highway, may not hurt Noida as much now.
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