Greater Noida: As the dusk settles over the Greater Noida sky, sparks fly like fireflies from a giant iron structure where workers are wielding the rods. Wearing a white safety helmet and goggles, one of them sitting on top shouts, “It’s looking good from above. It’s like those videos of videsh (foreign countries) we watch on YouTube.”
He is among hundreds of workers building Greater Noida’s first integrated industrial township that boasts of major white goods electronic brands such as Haier, FormeMobile and JWorld. The township will also feature a multimodal transport hub and a multimodal logistic hub.
With Adani Group gearing up to build a warehousing complex and Yotta data center spread over a 20-acre land parcel, and a proposed night safari on the lines of Thailand and Singapore, Greater Noida is stepping out of the Noida shadow by focusing on big bang projects. As major industries such as Pepsi, Yamaha, New Holland Tractors establish their presence, the city is being referred to as the “Detroit of North India” by its developers. Greater Noida has attracted investments worth Rs 4,200 crore in FY24 alone and new projects from the US, Singapore and Korea are in its lap.
The satellite city appears determined to house bigger projects, unlike Noida that may have started big with the likes of HCL but couldn’t really keep the momentum and ended up primarily as a housing and some small industries hub. Greater Noida is the new boom town in NCR—one that is smartly coupling growth with upcoming Jewar airport and industries, and is working towards turning the walk-to-work concept into reality. But small industries are complaining of having been sidelined at the cost of the big. What’s also playing drag are legacy issues of corruption, pending allotment and unmet resident demands—of road, water and sewer.
“Noida’s land bank is all used up. The city is saturated now. Going ahead, all investments will be coming to Greater Noida,” said Leenu Sehgal, General Manager of Planning Department at GNIDA.
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The DMIC advantage
Hearing the “videshi” comparison, the site manager at the township Amarjeet Chauhan smiles as he jots down the day’s progress in his spiral diary. Behind him is a landscape dotted with gleaming but scattered office towers, wide roads, a cycling track, roundabouts encircling greenery, lights and to-be-constructed fountains—on the lines of Lutyens’ Delhi.
This is the first smart industrial township in the city. From the largest logistic park in India to a transport hub featuring an inter-state bus terminal, Greater Noida railway station and residential clusters is spread across 747.5 acres of land, the integrated industrial township is connected to the country’s first Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor.
“Greater Noida has the potential to support three cyber hubs on the lines of Gurgaon. We have implemented new techniques to ensure fast disposal of services, including land packet survey. We do a survey of the land, identify the area and put it up for auction. The work has just begun. We are already attracting significant interest from foreign investors,” said Medha Roopam, additional CEO, Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA).
Noida’s land bank is all used up. The city is saturated now. Going ahead, all investments will be coming to Greater Noida
— Leenu Sehgal, General Manager of Planning Department at GNIDA
Haier’s manufacturing facility and corporate office is one of the first few projects that has taken shape in the Integrated Industrial Township. Now, it is in its second phase of construction. With an investment of Rs 16,000 crore in the first phase, the Chinese multinational alone is credited with generating employment for 2,500 people. The second phase promises employment to 1,000 more.
“Greater Noida is becoming a gateway for the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) because of its connectivity to the first such corridor of India. So, big industries want to invest here. Noida, on the other hand, doesn’t have these luxuries,” said the company secretary of the Industrial Town, Patanjali Naryana Dixit.
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Prioritising industries
Additional CEO of GNIDA Annapurna Garg’s travel to and from the Authority office involves rolling down the window of her SUV and identifying spots where new amenities can come up. A theme-based park, grand entrances to the city, sculptures—Garg wants to make the city appealing to the people.
Transferred a year ago from Lucknow, following the appointment of new CEO Ravi Kumar, Garg is among the fresh faces at GNIDA tasked with transforming the city.
“There is no place in Greater Noida where residents can go in the evening. We are focusing on the quality of life that brought people here,” said Garg.
A multi modal transport hub, biggest logistic park in India and a smart industrial township with state-of-art residential and commercial amenities—this is how Dixit, who is overseeing the Integrated Industrial Township project pitches Greater Noida’s new town to the potential investors. The industrial town is one big investment that separates GreNo—Greater Noida’s upmarket tag—from Noida.
“We are constructing dedicated cycling tracks. Greater Noida will have its own railway station, ISBT and a metro line to the station,” said Dixit, leaning back into his chair.
The Boraki railway station (also pronounced as Bodaki), a small station handling transportation of goods, will be expanded into Greater Noida station. The railway station will serve as the main travel hub for commuters who have been relying on Anand Vihar, Ghaziabad and the New Delhi station.
And the zeal to make Greater Noida a shining city permeates through the rank and file of GNIDA.
At the GNIDA office, officials are working to clear the pending cases. And architects are drawing inspiration from international smart cities like those in Japan for new designs, while additional CEOs are busy meeting with industry representatives. Moving beyond its ‘problematic’ past and creating a new identity is their priority.
Greater Noida is prioritising industrial development. In the 2041 master plan, the Greater Noida Authority has allocated 26.7 per cent land for industrial land use and 17.4 per cent for residential land use. This is a huge jump from the previous master plan of 2021 that reserved only 18 per cent for industries and 21 per cent for residential land use.
“Greater Noida has nearly 60 land parcels in reserve, much more than Noida which is only left with about a dozen. And on these land parcels, we are trying to attract big semiconductor and electric vehicle manufacturing industries. The most important lesson that we have learnt from Noida is to focus more on industries,” said a GNIDA official on condition of anonymity.
Since Roopam took charge, 25 MoUs have been signed with the industries, including Haier (second phase), Dixon, and Addverb robotics company, and other foreign companies which aim to develop the biggest data center in Greater Noida.
Greater Noida is prioritising industrial development. In the 2041 master plan. GNIDA has allocated 26.7 per cent land for industrial land use and 17.4 per cent for residential land use. This is a huge jump from the previous master plan of 2021 that reserved only 18 per cent for industries and 21 per cent for residential land use
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The MSME’s pain
For the last two years, 50-year-old Pushpendra Tiwari has been planning to expand his 450-square metre packaging industry to 2,000 sq metres. But he said that the high market price and authorities’ indifferent attitude has made it difficult for him.
In Greater Noida’s new push for big sharks, MSMEs today say they are cornered.
Tiwari, who is also the president of the Industrial Entrepreneur Association, said that he has met GNIDA CEO and senior leaders and even written to UP CM Yogi Adityanath seeking attention to the plight of MSMEs but there has been no progress.
“And I am not the only one. GNIDA and Uttar Pradesh government are only pushing for big industries.”
Tiwari blamed the e-auction model for this predicament. In 2019, the Greater Noida Industrial Authority introduced an e-auction model for industries that wanted to invest in the city. As per the model, the one who bids the highest will be given the land. Tiwari said that this model left no room for the small industrialists as they were not able to quote such big amounts.
The industries association president blamed the e-auction model for the predicament of smaller units. In 2019, the GNIDA introduced an e-auction model for industries that wanted to invest . As per the model, the highest bidder the land. This model left no room for the small industrialists as they were not able to quote big amounts.
Prior to 2019, GNIDA would allocate land on the ‘lucky draw’ model, under which the one whose name is picked is given the land. The winner of the draw was also given the leverage to pay 70 per cent of the amount in installments over five years.
“Now, under e-auction, the industry has to make a one-time payment of the amount,” said Tiwari.
Tiwari, along with others have met GNIDA CEO and has proposed to create provisions for MSMEs for their smooth expansion but he said that the authority has not come up with any such scheme.
“Even to expand my packaging industry, I need to pay Rs 6 crore. We have asked the authority to create provisions for MSMEs but they are not listening to us,” said Tiwari who also took out a protest last year.
As per Tiwari, there are around 10,000 MSMEs out of which around 5,000 such industries run out of rented places.
GNIDA officials, however, said they have been allocating industries to small units since 1992 and because the big parcels of land remain vacant, they are now pushing for big industries now.
It’s the choice between the big and the small that will be the deciding factor for Geno’s journey to becoming the next industrial mega town. And the Noida learning suggests the same.
“Big industries are the ones that are going to take Greater Noida forward in terms of investment, export and innovation but not at the expense of smaller industries,” said a GNIDA official.
Big industries bring big buck. And it’s reflecting in the investment inflow.
In February, the Greater Noida Authority held a groundbreaking ceremony for 38 industries, which drew a total investment of Rs 4,200 crore, a significant jump from the investment in the last financial year, which was Rs 2,500 crore. The authorities claim that the industries can give employment to 16,631 people.
But the industry body in Greater Noida said they are struggling for basic facilities, a single window system and proactive approach from the authority.
“Small industrialists are having a hard time getting licenses. Because there is no single window, we have to visit several departments for a small task,” said Aditya Kumar, another industrialist who runs a small garment unit on 300 sqm of land employing 30 people.
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The legacy issues, debt
Senior manager and architect at GNIDA, Sudheer Kumar’s office is teeming with residents holding files asking him to sort their issues. Few are patiently sitting on the brown sofa in the corner, waiting for Kumar to notice their presence, while others jostle around him, vying for their turn.
Amid them is a 38-year-old man from Uncha village who has come with a request for a crematorium in his village. With a print out in his hand, he said villagers have to travel three kilometres to cremate the dead.
“There must be no crematorium in the revenue records that’s why it is not constructed,” answered Kumar.
But the Uncha resident insisted there is a graveyard for Muslims.
“I don’t understand revenue records. Muslims have a graveyard and that’s good but Hindus have to travel kilometres to cremate the dead. We should also have something,” he said curtly.
We are currently dealing with several legacy issues that are hindering the
pace of our developmental work. We first need to get the basics right—the road, water and sewer. Our task is that the quality of life that people had
envisaged before buying a plot here becomes a reality
— Annapurna Garg, Additional CEO, GNIDA
Kumar asked Vijay to submit the file with a promise to take up the matter in the meeting with the senior officials. This is Kumar’s every day battle—dealing with residents’ complaints.
“There are several pending issues, from farmers’ land, to allotment and the demands of residents. We need to clear all of this if we want to move forward,” said Kumar.
Greater Noida has been mired by corruption, illegal land acquisition and fraudulent practices by builders. The town which was designed as an integrated industrial hub, an extension of Noida, witnessed a glut of housing schemes by real estate developers at throwaway prices during the Mayawati government in 2009-10. As the news of affordable housing in the Delhi suburb spread, families lined up to book their houses. But the several apartments were not built, those built were not registered. Land was acquired but farmers were not compensated, and the homeowners had nowhere to go. Such properties were mostly situated in Greater Noida West. The officials at GNIDA said that they are still fixing these issues that cost the city dearly.
“We are currently dealing with several legacy issues that are hindering the pace of our developmental work. We first need to get the basics right—the road, water and sewer. Our task is that the quality of life that people had envisaged before buying a plot here becomes a reality,” said Annapurna Garg, Additional CEO, GNIDA.
To facilitate the residents, Garg said that GNIDA has opened a new office in Greater Noida West, previously known as Noida extension.
“I oversee Greater Noida West. We have a team that listens to the grievances of residents and I sit at the office twice a week,” said Garg.
When Vinod Kumar was transferred last year from Lucknow to Greater Noida as the financial head of the authority, he was thrilled to work in a big city of NCR. Little did he know about the teething troubles awaiting him, most notably the debt on GNIDA.
“My first day at work, I saw GNIDA is reeling under massive debt of Rs 5,000 crore of which Rs 2,900 crore was taken from the Noida Development Authority. And the GNIDA had written to the state government for more loans,” Kumar laughed, reminiscing his first day.
The first thing, Kumar said, he did was to withdraw the plea for loan as that would mean more debt.
The e-auction system led to an outcry from MSMEs. Following the outcry, the authorities introduced an interview-based system. However, this model is to be implemented after the general elections
The second thing, Kumar along with former CEO Ritu Maheshwari did, was to chalk out schemes to attract industrialists and speed up the sale of commercial properties and industrial allotments.
The officials admitted that recovery of money from builders has been expedited after the UP government decided to implement a report by former CEO of Niti Ayog Amitabh Kant in December 2023. The report suggested measures to resolve stalled housing projects. But still, the debt is heavy on the GNIDAs shoulders.
“Now, we have Rs 3,000 crore debt on us but we are far better placed. We are still clearing the old rut,” said Kumar, adding that the GNIDA has created a fixed deposit (FD) of Rs 2,000 crore as a financial cushion.
The authority said that while there was no policy change, they sold the plots through e-auction.
“For some time, the e-auction system was put off. But once I came, I restored the e-auction system and half of our money came from the property sale through the system,” said Vinod Kumar.
The e-auction system led to an outcry from MSMEs in Greater Noida. Following the outcry, the authorities introduced an interview-based system. However, this model is to be implemented after the general elections, said the authority.
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The maker of Greater Noida
At the GNIDA office, she is referred to as the “maker of Greater Noida”. Sitting in her cabin on the second floor, Leenu Sehgal, general manager of the planning department, said she was a student at the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA) when the Greater Noida project started.
“It was given to SPA in May 1991 by the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority. And I joined in July that year.”
She was a fresh graduate when she was allotted the project.
We are working on a new plan for 2041 and it is yet to be cleared by the government. We are yet to finish 35 per cent of the previous master plan 2021
— Leenu Sehgal, general manager of the planning department at GNIDA
Sehgal said that the first instructions by the authorities were to not follow Noida which was dealing with narrow roads and sewage problems at that point in time. The first master plan of Greater Noida was prepared in 1992.
“Today, we are working on a new plan for 2041 and it is yet to be cleared by the government. We are yet to finish 35 per cent of the previous master plan 2021,” admitted Sehgal.
But in 1991, Sehgal had a mammoth at hand: planning a city from scratch was not an easy. She started with stitching all the villages together and that’s how the master plan of Greater Noida was created. Under the Uttar Pradesh Industrial Development Area Act of 1976, GNIDA came into existence in 1991.
Special attention was given to greenery, wide roads and rotaries, which Sehgal said were missing in Noida. The metro connectivity in Greater Noida was first thought of in 2001 and an airport was also planned. But with Yamuna expressway coming up and IGI at a distance of 75 km, the airport was shifted to Jewar.
Sehgal said that during the previous governments, she would be kept on the sidelines and nobody would pay attention to her plans during meetings.
“Everyone wanted to make money out of Greater Noida. It broke my heart as it was my baby. But today, I am happy that the city is in the right hands.”
(Edited by Anurag Chaubey)