Features

GIFT City: Building the future

16 Nov 2017 by Neha Gupta Kapoor
Development underway at GIFT City

Once you cross over Sabarmati river from Ahmedabad, there is a visible drop in traffic as you make your way down PDPU road towards GIFT City. It is situated just before Gandhinagar. Scenes of cars hurriedly overtaking others in a disorderly manner are replaced by serene village life where people are peacefully walking to their destination in a single file. The only lawbreakers are cows, some of whom decide to randomly sit in the middle of the road to ruminate.

The final three minutes of my drive to GIFT City is green. A straight road flanked by thick vegetation on both sides ends at the guarded North Gate. I’m asked the name of the person I want to meet and venue of the meeting. Once inside the manmade  “city”, I pass acres of empty plots and the occasional building — some operational, others under construction.

At the lobby of the Tower One building, I’m asked to sign a register before being given a badge, and then told to wait for lift #3. There is no panel with buttons inside the lift, which has been pre-programmed to take me up directly to the 28th floor. I would learn more about GIFT City at its corporate office here. In the future, as the city develops further, these visitor badges will have an electronic chip that helps security monitor the user’s whereabouts within the city.

Illustration of the GIFT City plan

INCEPTION 

Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) was conceptualised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his term as the chief minister of Gujarat. In mid-2011, the state government allotted 886 acres of uncultivated land for this project, and a few months later, in 2012, its levelling and development began.

On its completion, which is scheduled to happen in the next 12-13 years, GIFT City will be India’s first global financial and IT services hub. It has a signed Memorandum of Understanding with bourses BSE and NSE who have set-up international exchanges here. The goal is to pull into India about US$50 billion annually that is  “lost” to global financial hubs due to the lack of a dedicated International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in the country.

When asked how much could this project boost Gujarat’s GDP, Ajay Pandey, the MD and group CEO at GIFT City cites international financial centres as the benchmark: “Major established IFSCs globally contribute in double digits to their countries’ economy, and GIFT City is host to India’s first IFSC. ” The project has drawn comparisons and inspirations from centres such as Shinjuku in Tokyo, Lujiazui in Shanghai, La Defense in Paris, and London Dockyards in England’s capital city. Pandey goes on to share that in September, IFSCs situated here have shown business transactions over US$6 billion. “At international exchanges, the average daily business transaction volumes have crossed around US$75 million. This figure has even crossed US$100 million in a single day. Latching on to this momentum, in the coming years, we hope that finance and IT services’ exports from GIFT City are poised to grow continuously in a big way.”

Illustration of GIFT City plan

BLUEPRINT 

GIFT City is still in its nascent stage, but it is growing at a reasonably good pace. It didn’t seem as crowded as I had imagined it to be, but that’s probably because Gujarat’s dry heat kept its employees indoors. As of today, about 7,000 people are directly and indirectly employed because of this project.  “The key vision includes creation of around one million direct and indirect employment when the city is fully operational,” adds Pandey. “We want to create the right ecosystem for financial and technology companies by providing a conducive business environment and world-class infrastructure, along with quality of life.”

The city will have a total of 62 million square feet of built-up area for official, residential and social buildings. It has already received a committed investment of about `10,000 crore (from builders) for the development of 15 million square feet of the total allotted built-up space. And out of this, two million square feet is operational and three million square feet is under construction. While the building of residential towers hasn’t begun yet, some commercial units are already running in full capacity. Amongst them are 200 finance and IT units such as Oracle, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, HDFC, Tata Consultancy Services, Magzim Integrated and MCX Community Exchange to name a few.

Pandey points out that within India, “established companies (national and international) are looking for expansion in tier-II cities to reduce their operation costs”. As examples, he mentions that GIFT City is “Oracle’s tenth development centre globally, Bank of Baroda has set-up its back office operations here and Tata Consultancy Services has its software development operations here”.

Just like any planned development, GIFT City too has allotted zones for different land uses. If you’re into exports of any kind of services, you will need to rent/buy space in the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) within the city, where one gains from tax benefits offered by the government of India under the SEZ law. As for companies dealing in domestic operations, they must set-up shop in a separately assigned sector. For example, State Bank of India is moving its entire operations — international and domestic — from Ahmedabad to GIFT City. In such case, it has a dedicated tower in both, the SEZ and domestic areas of GIFT City. It also has a building under construction in the residential zone for its employees.

Finally, on its completion, GIFT City will have commercial units spread across 42 million square feet of the total reserved built-up space. One of these buildings will be the World Trade Centre (WTC) whose skeleton was being worked on when I had visited in August. Its official website (wtcgiftcity.org) states: “The coming of the globally recognised brand, World Trade Centre into GIFT City makes it a promising proposition for both. With the global brand recognition it brings, WTC makes GIFT City a truly global epicentre, while the world-class infrastructure of GIFT City enhances the value of WTC as an international business destination.”

As for the residential spaces, they will cover 14 million square feet. None of the real estate developers will be given permission to build villas and bungalows, as GIFT City is being developed vertically. The accommodation will range from humble to luxury, catering to all audiences, and their sale/rent will be restricted to only those who work within GIFT City. The aim is to make walk-to-work a reality for the citizens of the city. The question that arises is, what happens to your home if you’ve bought it while working in GIFT City, but later decide to quit and find a job in another city? The clause mentions that you can keep the apartment, but its usage has to be by someone working within GIFT City.

As for recreational facilities, Pandey says, “The construction of social amenities and entertainment hubs within the city is currently underway.”  Jamnabai Narsee School is already functional, as is a part of Sterling Hospital. The schools and hospitals here are accessible to anyone, not just to GIFT City citizens. There is a zone named Samruddhi Sarovar along the city’s water body, which will be the recreation area. “It will provide open space for enjoyment that includes areas for concerts, events, food outlets, retail facilities, jogging tracks, viewing points, and light, sound and water shows, to list a few,” Pandey explains. There will also be something similar to a  “Business Club” — a recreational facility that is under construction. One will need to buy a membership to access this facility, sale of which isn’t restricted to the employees at GIFT City.

Pandey further points out, “Over 60 per cent of GIFT City is planned to be green or open space, and its landscape masterplan shows 32 acres of urban green space.” All of these will be within walking distance of each other — offices, homes and social facilities. This is one way to help decrease carbon emissions as it reduces the dependence on carbon-emitting vehicles to move around GIFT City only. Many more such initiatives evidently certify GIFT City’s commitment to being an environmentally conscious project too.

Office complex in GIFT City

GREEN INITIATIVES 

For my entire time in Tower One, I did wonder about the strength of its air-conditioning. It wasn’t as cold as it would’ve been with strong machines, but it was still pleasant – I would say around 24-26 degrees Celsius and this was at 4pm when the sun shone brightly.

The building remains cool even during summers when temperatures in the Ahmedabad-GIFT City-Gandhinagar zone can cross 40 degrees Celsius. How is this possible? District Cooling. Water is chilled at a designated area within GIFT City, from where it is transported to its buildings through underground, insulated pipes. Chilled air is sucked from this water and distributed within the entire building through what is known as a HVAC (heating, ventilating, air conditioning) system. I was told that  “this reduces electric costs by approximately 40 per cent for the offices here”.

Builders investing in GIFT City are advised to employ this method to conserve energy. At the time of my visit, the only functioning buildings — two office towers, the administration building and the waste collection centre — were successfully cooled through this method.

By building a waste management centre, GIFT City asserts its commitment to the environment. Offices’ housekeeping are educated on the importance of dry and wet waste. They’re given coloured bags to segregate the garbage before disposing them through the shoot, built on every office floor. These bags are carried to a waste plant where, through advanced technology, the garbage is segregated, treated and recycled.

When asked about the absence of solar panels, I was told that the panels work best for a  “horizontal layout”. Solar power plants typically require large plates. GIFT City’s layout involves towers that reach heights of about 30 floors. Supporting the weight of the panels installed at every few floors in a cascading layout, wear and tear because of winds and rains, and maintenance would incur heavy costs.

However, GIFT City has identified open areas where solar power can be generated and used. Amongst many other uses, solar power within the city will be used for common infrastructure such as street lights, water treatment plants and wherever else possible. Approximately ten per cent of the total electricity demand at GIFT City is projected to be fulfilled by renewable energy, I am told as I was guided towards the city’s utility tunnel.

All utility lines, except sewage and gas, for the functioning of GIFT City run through the tunnel. I could easily walk through the underpass, which is wide enough to comfortably drive through in a golf cart. When restoration and maintenance is needed, repairmen can identify the faulty spot on the water and cable lines, instead of having to repeatedly dig up roads and cause inconvenience to commuters, as is the standard practice all over India. The tunnel includes water and waste pipes, internet cable and electric wires. Out of the 15km, currently only 2.5km is accessible and the rest is being developed in tandem with GIFT City.

GOVERNANCE 

This Central Business District deems itself an autonomous territory, and this is true to a large extent. It lies in the middle of Gandhinagar, the political capital of Gujarat, and Ahmedabad, Gujarat’s commercial capital. Though all three are within a compact 30km (approximate) radius, they have separate governing bodies, municipal corporations and urban development departments.

GIFT City has its own fire station and petrol pump, and has already launched public transport for both, intercity (to Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar) and intra-city travel. The city doesn’t have a police station of its own though, and the nearest one is in Gandhinagar. Overlooking its safety is a City Level Control and Command Centre that has security personnel monitoring all movements within GIFT City through CCTV cameras. They look into the maintenance of the city too, such that if there is a leakage, this circular building is the first to be alerted.

As mentioned earlier, much of GIFT City is in its skeletal state. It’s hard to gauge its potential yet. Although, by the names of investors listed on its website (giftgujarat.in), it does look positive for India’s future. Financial boost aside, a commendable feature is its efforts to be eco-friendly, and it is a possible achievement given its size for a city. It took me all of one hour to tour most parts of it – by foot and by car. The plans seem promising, and the 4D model replicating its future self looks well organised and tidy.

3D model of GIFT City plan

GETTING AROUND 

I struggled to get a taxi, and failed each time Uber confirmed a ride. Uber drivers refused to fetch me, unless I agreed to pay more than the receipt amount, because travelling 3km to drive to GIFT City from either Ahmedabad or Gandhinagar would cost them unnecessary wastage of fuel. Ultimately I had to hitch a ride back into the city from one of GIFT City’s employees. The public transport operated by the city makes sense if you know Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar well, and if you’re working there, because their timings coincide with usual working hours. Your best bet is hiring a car for a day.

WHERE TO STAY 

Currently, Brigade Group Hotel has a property under construction. On its completion it will have about 200 rooms and suites. Until then, below are three options to consider when visiting GIFT City.

Fortune Inn Haveli

ITC Hotel group’s budget property, this one is located in Gandhinagar. It is a 20-minute drive from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. All rooms are equipped with a minibar, iron and ironing board, tea/coffee maker, wifi and receive the daily newspaper each morning. The boardroom can hold 16 people and the largest of all the four meeting and event spaces here is the 1,565 sqm Imperial Hall.

Distance from GIFT City: 11km

fortunehotels.in

Hyatt Regency Ahmedabad

The property (reviewed on page 19) has 210 rooms and suites. Though the brand is targeted at business travellers, this hotel hopes to attract a sizeable number of leisure travellers too since Ahmedabad has been recognised as UNESCO’s World Heritage City, and is within proximity to heritage sites. As for meetings, it has seven meeting rooms. Business travellers will find the spacious Regency Club Lounge a comfortable venue to work or hold informal meetings.

Distance from GIFT City: 27km

ahmedabad.regency.hyatt.com

Radisson Blu

It is located within a few minutes’ drive from Ahmedabad’s commercial districts and tourist sites. Its 115 rooms and suites are equipped to please the business and leisure traveller both. Its Business Class room (31 sqm), next after the Superior room (31 sqm, base category) gives free access to the Club Lounge, offers free daily breakfast, free wifi, and free ironing of a limited number of pieces per day. The next accommodation categories would be the Executive and Presidential suites.

Distance from GIFT City: 31km

radissonblu.com

WHERE TO EAT 

Agashiye

For a true taste of Gujarati food and a seemingly endless variety of vegetarian dishes, head to this restaurant in Ahmedabad. It is situated in a heritage building that is now a boutique hotel. The menu that has a minimum of a dozen items on it, changes every day. One can view the menu on its website to choose what appeases the palate most — chances are, you would want to try each of the seven variations.

houseofmg.com/eat/agashiye

Huber and Holly

Those from Gujarat are known to love their sweets. And Huber and Holly, a modern cafe is a haven for ice-cream lovers with flavours such as cheese cake, peach, pomegranate and truffle to name a few. Each hand-churned scoop can be customised with a number of toppings. And for something savoury, there are hot croissants, pizzas, pastas and fresh baked bread. This one too has an all-vegetarian menu.

huberandholly.com

Mirch Masala

If its non-veg you’re craving, head to this themed Indian restaurant. Its decor resembles a typical village dhaba, inspired from retro Bollywood movies. Even the menu is playfully sectioned into Entertainers, Old is Gold, All Time Hits and Happy Endings amongst others. The menu offers typical North Indian dishes, from tikkas to curries, dals and flavoured Indian bread. The dessert menu is limited though, but worth a try.

mirchmasala.co.in

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