Toll ordeal takes sheen off industrial hub
There are not many takers for office spaces in the towering buildings of Manesar IT Park. The developers say almost 90 per cent office space at the park is unoccupied, thanks to the traffic bottlenecks at Kherki Daula toll and Hero Honda Chowk.
There are not many takers for office spaces in the towering buildings of Manesar IT Park. The developers say almost 90% office space at the park is unoccupied, thanks to the traffic bottlenecks at Kherki Daula toll and Hero Honda Chowk.
Launched in 2006 under the campus development scheme at Sector 8 of Industrial Model Township (IMT), the park was promoted by Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) which allotted big-size plots (10 acres each) to private developers based on the Chinese walk-to-work model.
Real estate development major Shapoorji Pallonji has raised an info-city at the IT Park. The firm, however, believes that the commutation woes along the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway put the prospective clients off.
A few of Manesar firms run a shuttle service for transporting employees from Huda City Centre Metro station in Gurgaon to the offices. Keeping in mind the uncertainty of the commuting hours due to the bottlenecks at the Kherki Daula toll plaza and Hero Honda Chowk, several firms have also allowed employees staggered work hours based on their commuting convenience.
Of late, big government facilities like the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs, the data centre of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and the Income Tax department’s central processing centre have come up in Manesar.
However, the area still throws strong elements of uncertainty about its business viability, majorly due to the connectivity issues, points out experts. “Manesar is losing its sheen, the expressway bottlenecks like the Kherki Daula toll plaza and the Hero Honda Chowk mess being the major factors,” said a senior official of HSIIDC.
“We launched the IT Park with a lot of hope but despite low rentals the corporate houses are not willing to go there as they have to deal with the harrowing traffic congestion on a daily basis,” the official added.