Infrastructure

Om Metals first Infrastructure Project is the mammothPondicherry Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and port project.

Pondicherry Overview

To ensure sustained and consistent growth, Pondicherry has announced various positive policy measures to facilitate growth and establishment of the IT, leather goods, auto components, marine products and agro processing in the state. The Pondicherry Government has charted out an extensive industrial development policy which envisages the creation of a Special Economic Zone and a free port to carry out the trade activities of these sunrise industries. Pondicherry is confident that these measures will also attract industries from fast growing cities in the surrounding southern states especially Chennai.

Special Economic Zone

The decision to encourage the development of SEZs across the country, is a part of the overall infrastructure plan initiated by the Indian Government. The central Government has already cleared Rs 1 trillion of investment in SEZs involving the conversion of over 40,000 hectares of the country's landmass into SEZs. Developmental work of this nature is expected to attract massive FDI inflows. Developmental work for the SEZs is planned through the Public Private Participation (PPP) mode which is expected to be fully functional in the next 18 months. Under the new SEZ law, to encourage private sector companies to move their offices and production bases in SEZs, the Government has provided fresh dose of incentives to corporates such as increasing the corporate income tax exemptions to 15 years (earlier 10 years) which will fuel the demand for the commercial complexes and properties in SEZs.

Sea Port

Seaports handle 95 per cent of India's foreign trade in volume terms and 70 per cent in value terms. However, there is scope to further enhance their capabilities, to handle increasing tariff. The central Government has accorded priority to improve port infrastructure facilities and the investments in this sector is expected to touch USD 1.9 bn.

Acquiring Prestigious Project

and port valued approximately at Rs 17000 mn over a five year period with Kolkata-based Subhash Projects, an engineering and construction firm who has partnered with Om Infraprojects to carry out this extensive project. Om Infraprojects brings to the partnership its strong engineering skills and steel fabrication expertise, the basic foundation for developing SEZs and ports.

Project Size

SEZ: With an estimated project size of Rs 7000 mn, the SEZ, to be developed on a greenfield land of 1000 acres, is envisaged to be a self-sufficient township comprising of corporate parks, IT zones, export zones, residential apartments and hotels for which Om Infraprojects and its partner plans to enlist the services of the best architects and developers in the country, leverage world-class technology and use material benchmarked to prevailing international standards.

Port: With an estimated project size of Rs 10,000 mn, Om Infraprojects expects to complete the first phase of the Pondicherry port development project by 2009. The company plans to develop the port to be amongst the best in South East Asia. The revenue from this project will be on a Built Operate Transfer (BOT) basis, and will accrue once the port is operational. The final blue print to implement both these projects is being chalked out and the construction activities is likely to commence in the second quarter of FY 07.