Gurgaon: Haryana is preparing to build yet another Global City, this time in Faridabad.Chief minister Nayab Singh Saini has directed officials to prepare, within three months, a special action plan for completing basic infrastructure, including electricity and water supply, in the proposed Faridabad Global City.The move has raised questions over govt’s penchant for announcing ambitious greenfield projects — its flagship Global City in the millennium city is yet to fully take shape.The Gurgaon project was conceived in 2019 and planned across sectors 36, 36B, 37 and 37B along Dwarka Expressway. Even in 2026, basic connectivity and infrastructure around the 1000-acre Gurgaon project remain a concern. Till date, not a single plot has been sold in the project.A real estate developer told TOI, “For people who have watched the Global City promise evolve for the last seven years, the obvious question is whether Haryana should first demonstrate that one Global City can be delivered on time before multiplying the model across the state.”For Faridabad, CM has also asked for a separate plan for a world-class iconic tower there. The project, according to govt, is spread over 1,000 acres and is estimated to cost Rs 1,000 crore, with officials claiming 80% of the physical work has been completed and the remaining work will be finished by Dec.Govt has projected the Faridabad project as a smart, planned urban centre with educational and healthcare institutions, malls, theatres, luxury hotels, community centres and marriage palaces. “It is also expected to have a dedicated water treatment plant, a green lake and Namo Bharat connectivity,” said an officer.The problem, however, is that the promise of Gurgaon Global City has been repeatedly pushed into the future.It was originally envisaged as a futuristic business and mixed-use district, with commercial towers, offices, residential development, retail, hospitals, schools, innovation and start-up zones, hospitality and cultural facilities, green spaces and water bodies.In Dec 2021, the then state govt had announced plans to launch the project in 2022, pitching it as a commercial hub on the lines of Dubai’s Business Bay. But the project did not move at the promised pace.The tender for its first phase, covering roads, electricity, water supply and other trunk infrastructure, was finally awarded in Sept 2023 for Rs 940 crore. The first phase covers around 587 acres.The environmental clearance also came only later, with the project having to cross several procedural milestones before construction could gather momentum.The first phase was subsequently targeted for completion by Dec 2026. In the past, HSIIDC invited bids for the plots, but no one showed any interest. Till now, HSIIDC has not been able to bring in any investor for the project.The scale of the delay is particularly significant because Global City was not conceived as an ordinary township.For Gurgaon, Global City was supposed to become a new international business district and a major engine of employment and investment. Instead, nearly seven years after its conception, the state is still working through the infrastructure needed to make the vision operational.Govt had projected an investment of more than Rs 1 lakh crore and around five lakh jobs, with the project expected to benefit nearly 16 lakh people.A 10.7-km utility tunnel was planned to carry water pipelines, electricity cables, fire services and other utilities, while an 18-acre, 350-million-litre reservoir was proposed to provide a seven-day water backup.Govt has had to keep revisiting road and connectivity works around the site. A proposed Rs 923-crore trumpet interchange on Dwarka Expressway is now being planned to provide signal-free access to Global City and the adjoining Vision City.A six-kilometre stretch of Pataudi Road, crucial for access to the project, has also required a fresh upgrade plan.The irony is hard to miss: While the state is talking about iconic towers, green lakes, smart-city features and Namo Bharat connectivity for a new Global City, the older Gurgaon project is still dealing with the nuts and bolts of getting its basic infrastructure and access network into place.
