The IT Ghost Towns of Chennai in OMR
The Old Mahabalipuram Road also commonly known as Rajiv Gandhi Salai or OMR located in suburban Chennai was planed as an IT corridor but parts of vicinity remain vacant giving the impression of a ghost town. A large number of buildings and tech parks located in OMR are vacant as IT companies did not move in after the central government ended the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) scheme in 2011. The many of the existing smaller IT firms which had set up base in OMR have also quit as they were being forced to pay out 30% in taxes each year. As a result several buildings and IT parks built along the OMR during the scheme are now lying completely empty.
The empty IT parks and dedicated business zones amount to about 4 million sq. ft of vacant space along the OMR. According to Realty consultancy Knight Frank estimates vacancy levels between 18 to 20 per cent are being witnessed in the area. During the STPI scheme, builders were allowed higher FSIs (floor space index) and given permission to build high-rises if they were for IT/ITES use. Now with IT companies moving out, the government is not willing to relax the Higher FSI fee which is also not helping the cause.
Real estate experts have suggested that one good way to make sure the empty buildings get occupied again is by cutting out the extra FSI development fee and opening the buildings for all non IT companies as done by neighboring states especially in cities of Hyderabad and Bangalore. The Tamil Nadu government has so far maintained its demand for a fee towards the extra FSI, a zero tax window for companies setting up base in the area while allowing only IT companies to set up base. Earlier there were demands from various voices to convert the area into a Special Economic Zone which would help inflow of new commercial ventures. Realty experts however feel that earmarking the area as an SEZ may not be possible as older buildings would not be able to fulfill the criteria for SEZ construction norms.
Unless the state government shows a proactive approach in resolving the OMR crisis, empty buildings and tech parks would only increase making the infrastructural projects lie empty. The dream project of the state government is slowly turning into a ghost town with no out of the box solution for the area.
Source: The Hindu
Old Mahabalipuram Road, OMR road Real Estate, Real estate experts, SEZ construction norms, Software Technology Parks of India, STPI
