ASCENDAS LINES UP RS 3K CRORE FOR TWO PROJECTS IN INDIA

Arun S, August 24, 2008
The Financial Express

Ascendas, the Singapore government-owned industrial park developer, which has so far been focusing only on the IT sector in India, would soon invest a total of Rs 3,000 crore in two massive projects—one near Mumbai and another adjacent to Chennai—to develop townships, start high-value engineering and electronics industries as well as special economic zones (SEZ).

Speaking to FE on the sidelines of a conference here on Saturday, Pang Yee Ean, senior vice-president (India Operations), Ascendas, said, “At the Indian government's invitation, we are looking at investing Rs 1,500 crore each near Mumbai and Chennai. This initial investment will go into industrial development and creating townships. The sectors that we are looking at are high-value engineering and electronics. Some part of these projects will be in new SEZs.”

Ean said the Rs 3,000 crore investment is significant, as companies from Japan, Europe, Taiwan and China have evinced keen interest in being part of the projects. Without disclosing the names of the companies, Ean said, “these companies are quite optimistic about the Indian economy and are keen to tap the huge domestic market here.”