INDIA BUSINESS WORLD - JUNE 2006
THE MONTH THAT WAS...

RIL JUGGERNAUT MOVES UP NORTH

  RELIANCE Industries (RIL) and the Haryana government formally inked a joint venture agreement to set up what is touted to be the country's biggest SEZ project. The Rs 40,000-crore project comprising a cargo airport and a 2,000-mw gas-based power plant will be spread over 25,000 acre in the Gurgaon and Jhajjar districts of the state.

The agreement was signed here by HSIIDC MD Rajiv Arora and Reliance Ventures director Anand Jain, in the presence of RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani and state chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

The deal took shape in December 2005 when RIL signed an MoU with HSIIDC to this effect. However, uncertainty dogged the project as the land acquisition process had run into political turbulence. The formal agreement was slated to be signed, but a delay and criticism from certain political fronts within the state had given rise to speculation about the project.

According to RIL circles, the project is expected to be completed in five to 10 years. “Big infrastructure projects have a long gestation period. The completion of the project would, of course, take time. But what the agreement signifies is the long commitment of RIL towards investing in Haryana,” said Ambani.

A special purpose vehicle company for setting up of the project has already been floated, Reliance Haryana (Pvt) Ltd. The newly-floated company is expected to go for an IPO. “We might be going to public in two-three years,” Jain said.