Kochi Smart City promoter prepared to wait for 2 more months only, Kerala govt firm on stand

The Dubai based builders Tecom has made made it clear that it would wait for only another two months for the state government's nod to go ahead wth the Kochi Smart City project.

Fareed Abdul Rahman CEO of Smart City project said that it involves crores of rupees and if no progress is made in this regard within two months legal steps would be pursued. He was talking to reporters here Friday before the board of directors' meeting.

Abdul Rahman said that M A Yusuf Ali is not a mediator for the issues related to Smart City project. He is a representative of the government. The government used the word 'representative', he insisted.

He said that he is ready to hold talks with Yusuf Ali in his capacity as a representative. A mediator should be a person who is acceptable to both the parties and he should be selected through a joint discussion held between the two parties. Nothing of that sort has happened, he said.

Smart city Kochi board meeting held in Kochi today

The Dubai-based promoters’ response to the recent government letter will decide the fate of the proposed SmartCity Kochi project, said Fisheries and Registration Minister S. Sarma.

Talking to reporters after one of the briefest director board meetings of the project here on Monday, Mr. Sarma, who is also the chairman of SmartCity Kochi, said that the next meeting of the Cabinet will decide on the additional time sought by SmartCity to reply to the letter.

The government had sought a reply within 15 days to the letter it had send early this month asking the promoters to take immediate steps to launch the project. The Chief Executive Officer of SmartCity Fareed Abdulrahman, however, wrote to the chief secretary asking for time till the end of this month.

Mr. Sarma said that the meeting was held to comply with the statutory requirement under the Companies Act and did not discuss any issues like the prospects of a legal battle.

Later, addressing a press conference Mr. Abdulrahman said that the company would response before the end of this month. Asked about the purported delay in replying, he said that SmartCity had taken the letter seriously and wanted the reply to be very “realistic.”

“We want the reply to include the best solutions and recommendations to take the project forward. Pointing fingers and repeatedly stating the problems would never take us anywhere,” the CEO said. He, however, said that the response to the letter “not necessarily” see a change in the company’s stand on outstanding issues.

While expressing optimism about the project, Mr. Abdulrahman, however, said that SmartCity was on a sound legal footing if things ended up in a court of law. The confidence, he said, was borne out of the framework agreement which was clear about the obligations of both the partners.

He said that SmartCity was committed to its Kochi project for it was bigger than the issues surrounding it.

Smartcity Kochi:Tecom to attend director board meet

A meeting of the board of directors of the proposed SmartCity Kochi project will be held at Ramada Resorts on September 20.

The meeting is scheduled to meet the statutory requirements under the Companies Act, which call for convening a director board meeting once every three months. The last director board meeting was held on June 28.

The meeting is unlikely to invoke much enthusiasm on either side as most of the previous meetings failed to produce any tangible outcome to lift the project from the depths into which it had fallen over many contentious issues including that of the right of freehold over 12 per cent land to SmartCity, the Dubai-based promoters of the project.

In fact, it is learned that, the fate of the meeting was uncertain initially as neither parties were sure about the participation of the other. There had been no significant development on the project for the last two years since the disagreement between the promoters and the government cropped up.

Kochi Smart City director’s board to meet today

Amidst continuing deadlock over the implementation of the proposed Smart City Kochi project, yet another meeting of the board of directors of the company would be held here today.

Unlike the initial board meetings, which evoked much interest triggering hopes of the project taking off, the ones held in the recent past had been just to fulfill the mandatory formalities.

The issue of right to freehold over 12 per cent land to Smart City, the Dubai-based promoters and the resultant stalemate over the registration of the land and Special Economic Zone notification had been keeping the project in a limbo for a long time now.

In between, arguments and ultimatums flew thick and fast between the stakeholders Smart City and the government dousing the hopes of the project materializing.

Fareed Abdulrahman, the Chief Executive Officer of Smart City, has pointed out the board meetings were being wrapped up without any significant decisions being taken.

After the last board meeting held on March 29 at which the outstanding issues plaguing the project were not discussed, Minister S. Sarma, who is also the chairman of the Smart City Kochi, had told waiting media persons that the board meeting was not the platform for discussing such issues as they need to be discussed at the government level as they related to an agreement reached between the government and Smart City.

He said that he was a mere board member like the rest of those on the board and was not authorized to take any decision on behalf of the government.

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SmartCity Kochi Crucial Board Meeting on March 29

A crucial Board meeting of the SmartCity Kochi project will be held on March 29, 2010 in Kochi. The meeting of the SmartCity Board will have representatives from Tecom, the promoters of the SmartCity Kochi project and the Kerala Government.

Fareed Abdulrahman, CEO of SmartCity, is also expected to attend the Board Meeting. The meeting is being held in Kochi at the instance of Tecom though the Government wanted to have it in Trivandrum.

This Board meeting comes in the backdrop of the Kerala Government having informed Tecom, its decision to decline their demand for 12% freehold rights for part of the land acquired for the project. The Government had recently made its position clear in a letter to Tecom and had also said that it cannot wait indefinitely for the project to begin. The grant of 12 % freehold rights to SmartCity has been the contentious issue between the State Government and Tecom. The last Board meeting on December 23, 2009 in Kochi had turned out to be inconclusive with differences of opinion continuing between the two partners.

Meanwhile in another development, Fareed Abdulrahman, CEO, SmartCity has announced that their SmartCity Malta will open in the third quarter of 2010. SmartCity Malta is a similar project being developed by SmartCity in partnership with the Government of Malta with a minimum investment outlay of US $ 300 million. SmartCity is a joint venture between TECOM Investments and Sama Dubai.

No freehold rights for Tecom: CM
The Kerala Government has informed Tecom, the Dubai-based promoters of the SmartCity Kochi project that it is declining their demand for 12% freehold rights for part of the land acquired for the project. The Government had made its position clear in a letter to Tecom authorities and have also said that it cannot wait indefinitely for the project to begin.

Chief Minister Shri V S Achuthanandan, while briefing the media after the Cabinet meeting yesterday said, "They are indefinitely delaying the project, making fresh demands outside the framework of the original agreement. Their demand for freehold on part of the land, which will give them sales rights, is not acceptable to the government". The company's financial position appeared to be shaky and that could be the reason for making new demands, he also added.

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