CHANDIGARH: Keystone R&D, a subsidiary of Gurgaon-based Mayar Group, has roped in research institutes run by American and Canadian corporate groups to set up operation at its Special Economic Zone in Gurgaon. The companies will set up units to conduct research in crop protection, new material (nanotechnology), seeds development and oncology research in the SEZ.
In the backdrop of flurry of withdrawal of
SEZ projects by companies, Mayar Group is looking at Indian start-ups and global MNCs to set operations at North India's first research and development based SEZ. As the recession hit developers are looking to set up residential and commercial projects on their de-notified SEZs in Haryana, Keystone is on look out for partnering with global R &D ecosystem developers in Singapore, US and Europe. To counter low sentiments in domestic market, the company is conducting global road shows and associating with universities in US and Europe that are looking to convert their patents into valuable technologies. The company is in talks with various FMCG companies and oil marketing companies that rely for innovation on similar facilities in South.
"Keystone is first research based SEZ in North and we are still bullish about its ability to attract companies to their cluster and is working towards creating a world class ecosystem in NCR" says chairman, AK Sud. "We are not looking to exit or sell equity in our SEZ," he maintains. The SEZ is spread over 240,000 square feet build up research facility.
The strategy is to create a backward linkage by having technology tie-up with companies who are working on creating innovative wellness products and technologies, the chairman said.
""Gurgaon, Faridabad and Sohna as the new growing hub of innovation and research with upcoming biotech cluster by the Department of Biotechnology under the ministry of Science and Technology at Faridabad and IT park on Sohna road by Singapore based Ascendas will catalyze the investments by research oriented companies, he says.
The SEZ has advantage of proximity to international airport compared to similar facilities in other location. "The strategy is to create backward linkage by having technology tie-ups with companies engaged in creating innovative wellness products and technologies. He says the project will come up as hub for innovation in North India and create a centre of excellence that will attract global MNC and Indian start-ups. We aim to support, incubate tech start-ups to create a vibrant ecosystem in NCR, India.
With almost 22 SEZ projects in process of de-notification in Haryana, the state government is in process to allow change of land use for commercial and residential projects to builders who have withdrawn their SEZ projects. Withdrawal of Minimum Alternate Tax and Dividend Distribution Tax on companies operating from the zones, apart from recession are reasons for failure of SEZ projects, industry maintains.
Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com