Sabeer Bhatia's Nano City to come up near Chandigarh

This is really great news. I had heard talks were on regarding this but I'm glad its finally come through. It's really great to see my hometown Chandigarh growing and prospering. I was there for barely a day last month, but could see the change, in the traffic, in the business like manner of the people and in the hundred's of retail companies that are setting up shops there. Once known as a sleepy backwater town full of retired people from the forces, Chandigarh is now full of young and vibrant people, industries and attitude.

The Economic Times reports that Sabeer Bhatia, creater of Hotmail, signed an agreement with the Harayana government to jointly set up Nano City, a knowledge hub built like Silicon Valley in the US. The total cost of the project is estimated to be Rs 18.5 billion. Sabeer Bhatia's Nano Works Developers will set up the project along with Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development (HSIIDC). The Nano City campus will be spread over 11,000 acres in Panchkula, approximately 45 kms from Chandigarh.

Bhatia said he wanted to set up Nano City on the lines of the Silicon Valley in the US — where he worked in the 1990s and founded the first free e-mail service — Hotmail. He said India had provided people for the world’s software industry and it was now time for the country to develop products and technologies for the world market itself.

The knowledge city will deal in future technologies like nano-technology, biosciences, software product development, next generation Internet products, materials research and energy.

Here are some links on Chandigarh:
The Official Website of the Chandigarh Administration
Wikipedia on Chandigarh
Official website of CITGO
Chandigarh IT Park