Sri Lankan investors may have an opportunity of acquiring land in India’s next IT hub, despite the fact that the property is developed to be a high-end residential city. An Indian joint venture company dealing in real estate is offering land to Sri Lankan investors in Mysore which is expected to be the next IT hub as is Bangalore. Esvee Group and Ishya Properties are developing a up market residential site called Highlands and is offering 4,000 sq ft and 5,000 sq ft plots at an early bird rate of 700 Indian rupees per square foot. Translated into Sri Lankan terms, the joint venture is offering 15 perches at about 7.84 million Sri Lankan rupees and 18 perches at about 9.8 million Sri Lankan rupees. The company said that land in Bangalore fell in the range of 2,000 to 4,000 Indian rupees for a square foot. At the Central Business District at Mysore, land trades at about 4,500 Indian rupees per square foot where rent can amount to about 55 Indian rupees per square foot. According to the company, commercial properties are trading at 1,500 to 3,000 Indian rupees per square foot in other areas. Demand for residential property in Mysore ranges between 1,800 and 3,200 Indian rupees per square foot. Chairman and Managing Director of Ishya Properties, R. Girish, said that several Sri Lankan high net worth individuals, CEOs and corporate heads, had confirmed investments in plots at Highlands. "About half of those who spoke to us said that they may invest in plots for commercial purposes while the rest were interested in building luxury homes for themselves," Girish told the media on Monday. Girish said that according to the laws and regulations of the state and central government of India, investors would own the properties once the price is paid. He was impressed with Sri Lanka’s policies of granting Indians with visas on entry and the work done by the Board of Investments (BOI) to facilitate Indian investors here. "I cannot comment on government policy but India should consider granting visas to Sri Lankans on entry as well," Girish said. He also said that investors could chose to do what they pleased with plots they owned. "They could either build commercial residencies or commercial establishments," he said. Girish said that the joint venture company was competent to handle construction as well and said that investors could contract them or anyone else for constructions. About 2,200 acres have been acquired in Mysore for the establishment of IT and apparel parks. Infosys has a 450 acre campus. Wipro has its Global Management Centre in Mysore as well. Corporate giants such as TVS, Siemens, L&T, AT&T and Nestle have already established themselves in Mysore. Companies such as Mphasis, First American Corporation, Reid and Taylor and Bharat Earth Movers are moving into Mysore too, according to Ishya Properties. Girish said that India’s ‘Silicon valley’, Bangalore, was saturated (35 percent of India’s One million IT professional base is employed at Bangalore) and that the Indian government was investing in Mysore to be the country’s second IT hub. Highlands is expected to be a residential hub for high net worth individuals and its developers have already presented the project in Dubai, Nepal and the USA. The company hopes to construct a high-end residential spa and club house for its future residents and hoped to complete these projects by 2010. "We want Highlands to be a holiday destination or a place where businesses can have their strategic meetings," Girish said. But with India’s policy on issuing visas to Sri Lankans, apply for visas three weeks in advance
