Infopark Kochi to be expanded over 160 acres

The second phase of softyware park Infopark in Kochi, which may be developed under a public-private partnership (PPP) model, will come up over 160 acres, said a top company official here Monday.

"We are getting into the second phase of Infopark's expansion. The land will be with us by the end of this year. We may look at building the infrastructure on a PPP model," said Infopark chief executive Siddhartha Bhattacharya.

He said it was still not decided whether the new park would be developed by Infopark or by the newly-promoted Kerala State IT Infrastructure Ltd.

Speaking about the existing Infopark, built over 102 acres, he said: "As of today we are full. In four and a half years, we got 9,000 people working in the IT park. We have already constructed 2.5 million square feet, and another two million square feet is under construction."

According to him, the two million square feet is being developed by Infopark and co-developers like Larsen and Toubro, Wipro and Tata Consultancy.

"Infopark on its own will develop half a million square feet," he said.

Maintaining that the downturn did not have any major impact on IT companies in Kerala, he added: "However, in order to assist small and medium-sized companies we have decided to defer 50 percent of the rent from units located in the park for a year."

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State to benefit from Vallarpadom: Kerala Tourism Minister

Kerala was poised to grow into a land of opportunities in the logistic sector with the commissioning of Vallarpadom International Container Transhipment Terminal (ICCT), Home and Tourism Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said here on Friday.

Inaugurating the two-day ‘Focus Kerala World Investors Meet-2009’ here, he said the ICCT would provide huge opportunities for investment in the state and urged the investors to fully utilise the meet to their benefit.

He said the change in attitude of the state was reflected by the fact that it was the Kerala Chamber of Commerce and Industry which was organising such a meet and not the government. The smooth acquisition of land of over 1,500 acres for Kannur airport was another instance of the state resolution to grow into an investor-friendly destination, he added.

“There are large opportunities in the fields of mobile technology, nano technology and cybermedia, which are bound to create a revolution in the future and are also employment generators,” Kodiyeri said and cautioned that the neighbouring states were keeping their eye on all such prospective fields.

Stating that the state had done exemplarily well in the tourism sector at a time when other countries fared poorly, the Tourism Minister called upon the chamber to take efforts to revive the sick units and work towards removing industrial stagnation.

Inaugurating the conclaves in ten different sectors identified by the chamber, where investments could be made, Fisheries Minister S Sarma said the entrepreneurs in the state should start working from now to achieve a growth of 20 percent by 2015. “The state should develop all facilities to attain the target. Electricity is a key component behind the development of any sector and the completion of LNG terminal will enable the state to offer power at budget rate”, he said.

Dismissing allegations that the government was not serious in solving the issues related to the Smart City Kochi project, he agreed that there were obstacles on the way and the government was seriously studying the matter and trying to find a solution which would be transparent and acceptable to all.

Earlier, delivering the welcome address, K M Abdulla, Chairman, Kerala Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the meet was the result of the chamber’s two years of hard work to find the viable areas for investment in association with 999 panchayats in the state.

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India's longest railway bridge will be at Kochi

The country's longest railway bridge, at 4.62 km, is fast nearing completion and will be opened in November, an official said here Saturday. The bridge, to connect the International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) at Vallarpadam with Edapally near here, has been constructed in the Kochi backwaters.

G. Keshava Chandran, deputy general manager of Rail Vikas Nigam Limited, said: 'The project cost for this mega bridge is estimated to be Rs.295 crore. The work began in May 2007 and is progressing on schedule.'

The bridge is a necessity for the proposed Rs.2,118 crore ICTT, billed as the country's first global hub terminal which is set to alter the development map of the state through huge investment in the coming years.

The ICTT project is set to launch a series of ventures including the Rs.1,600-crore LNG terminal, the port-based Special Economic Zone (Rs.1,510 crore), International Ship Repair complex (Rs.315 crore), SBM (single buoy moorings) for Kochi Refineries Ltd (Rs. 720 crore), Petro chemical complex for Gas Authority of India (Rs.7,000 crore), International bunkering terminal, bulk cargo terminals, cruise ship terminals and an international marina.

'Though there would be just one railway line at the moment, the foundation for two lines has been done. There would be no passenger traffic on this railway line, only container traffic to and from the IICT,' said Chandran


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Photo Credit : The Hindu

No information on the future of Smart city Kochi project: Kerala CM

Chief minister V S Achuthanandan informed the assembly that the government had no information on the future of Smart city project. He replied to queries on Smart city as to whether TECOM had withdrawn from the project and what holds the future of the project. CM through documentation informed the assembly that 1,25,220 files are pending in the Secretariat and out of this 16,822 files are pending without any decision since the last two years, he said.

TECOM ready for comprehensive talks for Smartcity Kochi

TECOM, the promoters of the proposed Smart City project in Kochi has informed that they would like to have a comprehensive discussion with the state government in connection with the implementation of it.

The authorities have put forward some proposals for holding talks with the government. One of their main demands includes a comprehensive discussion on the 12 per cent freehold land. They also want to know about the registration of the land and not only that they want to know the full agenda of the talks.

Meantime, the government has informed that they are ready for the talks.

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