Asia's largest aerospace hub near Bangalore soon

Bangalore, June 4 (IANS) Leading infrastructure developer Sun Forest City Ventures Ltd. will build one of Asia's largest hubs for the aerospace industry near Bangalore with an upfront investment of Rs.10,000 crore ($1.8 billion), a senior official said Monday.

"The state government has approved the Rs.10,000-crore investment proposal of Sun Forest City to set up the mega project with a complete eco-system for aerospace industries in three phases near the Bangalore international airport," state Industry Secretary M.N. Vidyashankar told reporters here.

To be built in about 1,000 acres - around 14 km from the airport and 44 km from the city - cluster project 'Vayu' is expected to provide direct jobs to 242,000 people and house domestic and overseas aerospace firms in an integrated space with world-class infrastructure facilities.

"We have identified the land and issued preliminary notification to farmers for acquisition of their lands at the prevalent market rate. The aerospace hub will complement the aerospace special economic zone (SEZ) being set up near the airport for the private sector," Vidyashankar said.

"The centre will take advantage of the defence offset policy to manufacture and supply components and sub-assemblies," he added.

The company will sign an agreement with the state government at the two-day Global Investors' Meet (GIM 20-12) June 7-8 for formally launching the project.

Sun Forest City is a joint venture between the entrepreneurial venture capital and industrial group (Sun) and Forest City, a leading real estate enterprise in the US.

The joint venture partners with governments, corporations and institutions to plan, build and operate mega infrastructure facilities for industrial development and employment creation.