Much-needed succour for the IT parks that are lying vacant in the city could be spelt out in the new IT policy of the state government, which is under preparation, said highly placed sources.
The government is expected to relax norms for these vacant buildings to enable their use to house business enterprises other than IT and ITES.
Nearly one out of every three IT parks in Chennai is lying vacant. Going by the estimate of real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle India, out of the total 28 million sq ft of IT park space (excluding special economic zones) available in greater Chennai, about 8.68 million sq ft is lying vacant.
The virtual dead investment on these concrete structures could be in the region of Rs 2,000 crore, said Kevin William Albert, associate director of JLL India. “Many promoters have been holding on to these buildings for more than three years with the hope that some relief could come their way. Banks, which funded these projects, are facing problems of non-repayment of loans,” said Kevin.