The Andhra Pradesh government on Monday allotted 471 acres of land to the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation at Sultanpur village in Medak district for the development of the first phase of the Hyderabad Economic City.

HEC will be developed by the Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority of UAE in association with APIIC. The government gave the land to APIIC at Rs 16 lakh (Rs 1.6 million) per acre, AP's information and public relations minister said after a cabinet meeting.

The investing agency had sought 2,000 acres for the HEC. The remaining land would be given in due course, an APIIC official said.

Ras Al Khaimah and APIIC signed a memorandum of understanding in September last year for the development of HEC with a proposed investment of Rs 20,000 crore (Rs 200 billion). It would be an integrated financial hub with infrastructure facilities for financial services operations for banking, insurance and asset management companies.

The project would also have an integrated health city that would include facilities for clinical and non-clinical services, hospitals, medical colleges, research services for clinical trials, drug delivery systems, stem cell research and genetic research among other things, according to sources.

The state government has also decided to transfer about 210 acres of land at the University of Hyderbad for the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. The institute would invest about Rs 2,500 crore (Rs 25 billion) over a period of 12 years.