Randeep Ramesh in New Delhi
Wednesday March 30, 2005

Local officials said the building in Noida would be 710 metres (2,330ft) tall - 202 metres higher than Taiwan's Taipei 101, the current tallest building on the planet.

The skyscraper, said to have been designed to resemble the peaks of the Himalayas, is scheduled to be open for business by 2013.

It will contain a 50-floor five-star hotel, a 40-storey glass atrium and 370,000 sq metres (4m sq ft) of shopping centres.

"New York in the 30s, Malaysia in the 90s and China today all have used tall buildings to showcase their countries to the world," said Hafeez Contractor, the architect behind the building.

"We want this building to show to the world what India can do."

Mr Contractor has made a name for himself as something of a skyscraper evangeliser and is building a 120-storey tower block in Dubai.

The architect says his new structure will exceed the tallest planned building, the Burj tower in Dubai, although latest reports are that the Middle Eastern state will simply continue adding floors to ensure its supremacy.

The craze for height has hit hardest in industrialising Asian countries such as Taiwan, Malaysia, Hong Kong and China, where seven of the world's 10 tallest buildings are located.

India has severe restrictions on building heights to limit the spread of tall buildings. "We shall need to change the local bylaws to get this project through the planning procedures, but that has already been agreed," said Deo Datta, the chairman of Noida development authority.

Mr Datta added that the 140-hectare (350-acre) site had been acquired for the skyscraper, although yesterday it was being used by a herd of cows for lunch.

There are still hurdles before the project, which aims to attract tourists, shoppers and offices to Noida, can go ahead.

Most important is the cost, with the total bill topping 400bn rupees (£5bn).

But with land prices rising vertiginously in overcrowded Delhi, officials say foreign investors are lining up to take part.

Noida, which 10 years ago was little more than pastureland outside the capital, has grown thanks to the booming call centre industry, and officials say it wants to transform itself into a tourist hub.

An eight-lane highway links Noida to Delhi and there are plans to extend the new metro system to the suburbs.

Another project will see the the creation of the Noida Eye, modelled on the London Eye.

But some experts are critical of the new wave of Indian design, which they say simply mimics what others have done before and does not take account of local conditions.

"It's not suited for Indian conditions. We do not have enough water. We do not have the uninterrupted electricity supply," said Balkrishna Doshi, one of India's most respected urban designers.

"The building will need its own power plant to make sure the lifts do not stop when the electricity does."