Manesar IMT: A township dream turns an infrastructure mess

Frequent power outages, lack of basic amenities and entry of land sharks keep businesses away

Spurred by the success of Gurgaon as a Millennium City, with its multi-storey offices sporting swanky glass facades, and the manufacturing boom in India, the Haryana government conceived in 1994 an ambitious 4,000-acre Industrial Model Township (IMT) in Manesar to bring in more entrepreneurs to the city.

But instead of shaping up as a township, which Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) promised will "inspire entrepreneurship and success", Haryana's Manesar dream degenerated into a filthy neighbourhood with frequent power cuts and poor civic amenities. A decade after it was conceived, the "dream township" has been reduced to an infrastructure mess.

HSIIDC records show at least 2,100 plots have been allotted to various industries here till date. But for a few heavyweights like automobile majors Maruti and Honda, most of these plots have ben taken by small and medium-scale units dealing in auto parts, garments and IT services.

A businessman who Newsline spoke to said only 40 per cent of the small and medium units were functional now.

Another businessman, Satish Chand, who heads one of the oldest industrial associations here, puts the figure at 25 per cent.

HSIIDC's own figures hover around 75 per cent, but these, as most businessmen say, include buildings that are erected but lying idle.

POWER CRUNCH

Lalit Jalaan bought a two-acre plot for Rs 8 crore in 2009 to set up what he claimed was the country's only diamond saw-blade plant, meant for cutting stones. "It was basically because of the fancy infrastructure promises that we decided to invest so much money in the land," he said. His plant today runs to about only a third of its capacity because of power shortage and rising cost of diesel, he said.

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