KERALA
GETS $30 M FOR NRI CITY
After helping to successfully tie up a Rs 179-crore NRI township
project in Bangalore, the ministry for affairs of overseas Indians
is now facilitating a similar NRI city-in-city project in Kerala
(near Coimbatore).
"Work has
started on the project and $30 million FDI has flown in. The
state government has also earmarked another 500 acres of land
for it. We are in talks with other states like Andhra Pradesh,
Himachal and Maharashtra to develop such NRI hubs,'' minister
for overseas Indians affairs, Jagdish Tytler told ET.
"The Ahmedabad
municipal authorities have earmarked 2000 acres of land for
another NRI city-in-city,'' he added. These hubs would include
real estate infrastructure, IT support, shopping malls and
various other facilities.
Meanwhile, the
new ministry for NRIs & PIOs is working with the law ministry
to set up special courts to fast-track cases relating to them
in India.
"We have also
sorted out the issue of the dates of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas
in 2005 clashing with the Saarc summit. PBD will now be held
in Mumbai between January 7 & 9, 2005 and Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh will inaugurate it. The focus this time will
be on business as also the Indian diaspora in South East Asia
in regions like Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Thailand,''
Tytler said. The Saarc summit is scheduled in Bangladesh between
January 9 & 11.
