Boney Kapoor’s firm to develop Yeida’s Film City project

Kapoor’s Bayview pipped KC Bokadia’s Lion Films, Akshay Kumar’s Supersonic Technobuild and T-Series to bag the project

Film maker Boney Kapoor’s Bayview Projects LLP and Bhutani Group will jointly develop the Film City in Sector 21, near Noida airport in Jewar, officials of the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (Yeida) said on Tuesday, adding that Bayview’s was the highest bid for the project, pipping three other players.

(Above) Yeida officials at the bid opening on Tuesday. (HT Photo)

The four companies that qualified in the technical evaluation were Bayview Projects LLP, Lions Films Private Limited of KC Bokadia, Supersonic Technobuild Private Limited of actor Akshay Kumar and Super Cassettes Industries Private Limited of T-Series, said the officials in the know of the matter.

The committee of officials of Yeida on Tuesday opened the financial bids and found that Bayview Projects LLP and Bhutani Group has placed the highest bid, promising the highest returns to the government at 18%.

Lions Films promised a return of 15.12%, Supersonic Technobuild 10.80% and T-Series 5.12%, which was the lowest bid against the tender, said officials.

“As per the laid down rules, the company that promises the highest gross revenue share will be selected for the project. And Bayview Projects LLP placed the highest bid. Now we will send this for approval to the state government,” said Arun Vir Singh, chief executive officer, Yeida.

As per the guidelines of the public-private partnership, the proposed bids will be placed before the committee of secretaries and then sent to the state government cabinet for necessary approval.

“Once the cabinet give its approval, the highest bidder will be given the letter of award,” said Singh.

The Yeida on November 23, 2021, issued a global tender for the Film City project but no one came forward to submit bids. It prompted Yeida to revise the detailed project report and reissue global tenders on November 7, 2022. But, again, no one came forward with bids. On September 30, 2023, Yeida issued a global tender for the third time with January 5, 2024, as the last date for submission of bids. Subsequently, the Yeida on January 27 opened the technical bids in which four companies qualified for the financial bidding, which was opened on Tuesday.

The film City is to be developed on 1,000 acres of which 220 acres is earmarked for commercial use and 780 acres for industrial use. In phase I, the film city will be developed on 230 acres, said officials.

As per the DPR, the developer will have to pay ₹144 crore as security before work begins at site. The high-level committee, headed by UP chief secretary DS Mishra, approved the DPR for the progress on this crucial project. The developer will get 90 years to develop this project spread on 1,000 acres in Sector 21, located near the Jewar airport site, the DPR said.

“We are happy to become the selected bidder as we placed the highest bid in the global tender of the Film City. We will start the work at the site right after all procedures are completed and we get the land. We aim to develop the Film City in three years,” said Ashish Bhutani, chief executive officer, Bhutani Group.

“We will start work at the site as soon as the government will hand over the 230 acres. We have already prepared our detailed strategy. We will invest ₹1,500 crore in this project and develop it in a manner so that we can provide everything related to films like artistes, technology and studios. One can make an entire film under one roof with ease here once it is developed,” said Rajiv Arora, general manager and chief financial officer of Boney Kapoor’s firm Bayview.