Amenities available in shortest possible time: Gandhinagar GIFT city MD

Source:  The Indian Express 

Gandhinagar’s GIFT City, a fintech hub, has ambitious plans to lure foreign universities to establish their international branch campuses there. Its managing director Tapan Ray shared the vision for the city’s development on Tuesday and said that the amenities would be ready in the “shortest possible time”.

At an event at GIFT City to celebrate the cooperation between India and Australia in the education sector, Tapan Ray said, “We have a high-class physical infrastructure… but in terms of commercial, residential, and social infrastructure that is needed to make it a flourishing financial services hub, we have taken a lot of steps to ensure that they are completed in a short span of time.”

“We are already working on creating a riverfront. As you know, the river (Sabarmati) is on the western bank of GIFT city and we will create a riverfront that will eventually connect to Ahmedabad. So there will be a riverfront along both banks of the Sabarmati River,” Ray said.

He said that the RFP (request for proposal) has been issued and tenders are being evaluated for this project. “That will enhance the value of GIFT City as it will provide a natural beauty of water being stored and riverfront being created,” he added.

Ray also said that the GIFT city would have a world-class entertainment zone, which is much needed for the city. “We have done the Expression of Interest (EOI) and we will get it up and running in a short period of time, maybe three years,” he said. He claimed that these are infra requirements for any lively city and they hope to create them in the shortest possible time.

“Besides, we are setting up a central park near the club that will take much less time. For connectivity, we have a metro coming up next year. We also have a personal mobility system that is on a trial basis in GIFT City. The master plan of GIFT City has been extended to add another roughly 10 sq. km to make it a 14 sq. km area. With all this infrastructure, it will be a vibrant city with sustainable infrastructure and most of the buildings are green and we are also aiming at net zero in the future,” he added.

On the commercial side, Ray said that out of the planned 44 million sq. ft., 22 million sq. ft. of space has been allotted for commercial, residential, and social infrastructure. “Seventeen buildings are already operational, another 30 are under construction, and another 17 are in planning. So, in another five to seven years, we will have 64 high-rise buildings within GIFT City, giving it a flavor of an international financial centre,” he shared.

“In the residential segment, we have already allotted 5,000 residential units that will support the walk-to-work culture that we hope to promote. So even when the university students come, they would be able to walk to their campuses,” Ray emphasized