Boney Kapoor-backed firm wins bid to develop Film City near Noida

Bayview Projects, backed by filmmaker Boney Kapoor and real estate developer Bhutani Group, on Tuesday bagged a contract to develop the International Film City near the upcoming Noida International Airport in Uttar Pradesh, according to officials.

The financial bid for the greenfield project was opened on Tuesday afternoon by the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA), which functions under the Uttar Pradesh government.

"M/s Bayview Projects LLP (Boney Kapoor and Bhutani Group) will develop the International Film City in the Yamuna Expressway area after making the highest bid for the Film City," YEIDA said in a brief statement.

UP Industrial and Infrastructure Commissioner Manoj Kumar Singh and Director (Information) Shishir Singh joined Tuesday's programme virtually, along with YEIDA's CEO Arun Vir Singh when the bid was opened in front of the PPP Bid Evaluation Committee as per guidelines for projects worth over £100 million.

The selection of the concessionaire remains to be approved by the UP government before land is allotted to it for the development of the project, OSD Bhatia told PTI, adding that the approval from the state cabinet is expected in the next 15 days.

Bayview Projects offered the highest revenue share of 18 per cent to the state government for the Film City, which will be built under the public-private partnership (PPP) model, according to YEIDA.

Bayview Projects was competing against Super Cassettes Industries Private Limited (T-series), Supersonic Technobuild Private Limited (backed by film star Akshay Kumar, Maddock Films, and others), and 4 Lions Films Private Limited (backed by filmmaker KC Bokadia and others) to develop the film city, considered as a pet project of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

The second highest revenue share of 15.12 per cent was offered by 4 Lions Films, followed by 10.80 per cent by Supersonic Technobuild, while T-Series offered the lowest share of 5.27 per cent, the YEIDA said.

"Bayview Projects has formed a consortium with two more companies for the projects. These companies are Parmesh Construction Company Limited and Noida Cyberpark Private Limited.

"Bayview Projects (operations and maintenance) has 48 per cent equity in the consortium while Parmesh Construction (financial) and Noida Cyberpark (technical) have 26 per cent equity each," the authority said.

The Film City is to be built in a public-private partnership over 1,000 acres (230 acres in the first phase) of land in Sector 21 of YEIDA, along the Yamuna Expressway near Noida. Of the proposed development in 1,000 acres, 220 acres is for commercial use and 780 acres for industrial use.

This was the third time that a tender was floated for the project. A global tender was launched on November 23, 2021, and the second on July 11, 2022, but no investor expressed interest on both occasions.

It was again floated for the third time on September 30, 2023, with a deadline of January 4, 2024.