Lulu Mall Kochi opening on March 10, 2013

Lulu mall, anticipated to be the fourth largest mall in India , following High Street Phoenix Mall of Mumbai 360,000 m2 (3,900,000 sq ft), Orchid Ozone Mall of Mumbai 324,000 m2 (3,490,000 sq ft) and will be bigger than the Metro Walk Mall of Delhi 2,600,000 sq ft (240,000 m2). The mall will be the size of eighteen football grounds and 60% of the size of The Dubai Mall.



Photo via

The mall, in the Edapally area of Kochi, covers 17 acres and includes a large ice rink, muliplex cinema, restaurants, a Lulu hypermarket and a bowling alley. The developer is also building a Marriott hotel as part of the complex.

Signage describes the development as "India's largest shopping mall", but information available elsewhere suggests that it will be India's fourth-biggest mall. It is expected to create direct employment for about 8,000 staff.

Emerging Kerala 2012, 12-14th September 2012

A bouquet of opportunities for the world to take note of, Emerging Kerala 2012, is your opportunity to explore, invest and establish your business interests in Kerala. With a pro-active administration and investment-friendly policies, this is your gateway to make a mark on the industrial playground of Kerala.

Read more »

Kochi Vallarpadam container terminal Corporate Videos

ICTT Inauguration - Cochin Port - Video
Read more »

Now, a litigation over Kochi's name

The Kerala High Court on Monday admitted a public interest litigation contending that no area other than Cochin Corporation, and those included in Kochi taluk, should be called Cochin.

The petitioner submitted that the names Kochi and Cochin confuse those coming from outside the state.

For flight ticket bookings, the name of Kochi is shown as Cochin. The name of railway station is still known as Ernakulam.

The distinction between Kochi, Cochin and Ernakulam are confusing the outsiders, and in the circumstances it requires clarification.

"The area coming within the Cochin Corporation area, other than those included in Kochi taluk, cannot be called Cochin unless the government issues a notification officially changing the name of the Cochin Corporation," the petitioner submitted.

Medical City Kochi

In between all the unclear and doubtful talks on smart city, a ray of hope for another development project in Kerala. This is the Medical city is from D.M health care group. The group is having plans of establishing various medical firms throughout Kerala. The Medical city at Cochin will be a 500 crore project. The group is having plans of investing 800 crores in the Medical field of India. Along with the medical city Cochin the group will establish a medical college at Wayanad. The new plans were announced by the chairman of the group Dr. Asad Muppan.

The Medical city will be constructed in 35 acres of land. The project will be constructed in 2 phases. In the initial stage hospital with 500 beds, convention centre, Hotel facility for Guests and relatives of patients, accommodation facility for doctors and staff will be constructed. In the second stage expert facilities for specialized branched will be established. This includes modern treatment facilities for specialties as eye, heart and cancer. The group is also conducting several social service activities in the medical field.

Source

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


Source

Photo Credit : The Hindu

Kerala Minister accuses Tecom of raising fresh demands

A few days after Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan said the global slowdown might delay the launch of Kochi’s Smart City project, state Fisheries Minister S. Sarma Monday said the project developer was now making fresh demands that were not part of the agreement.
Smart City Dubai has not even placed a brick at the site, Sarma, also the chairman of the Rs.1,500 crore ($316 million) project, said while speaking at a function here.

“We are bound by the agreement and we will honour it by all means. But instead of going ahead as planned, they (Smart City Dubai) are now coming up with fresh demands,” he said.

“Now they want to get free hold rights of 12 percent of total project land, which amounts to 39 acres. As per the agreement, this becomes due only after the master plan is ready. But the plan is yet to be ready,” the minister added.

Earlier May 20, Achuthanandan had said the developer might not have the required funds because of the financial crunch. He also accused the Dubai-based firm of making “undeserving demands”.

The proposed project, to be jointly launched by the state government and infrastructure major Smart City, is slated to come up on a 246-acre plot with 8.8 million square feet of built-up space, of which 70 percent is earmarked for IT and IT-enabled services.

The foundation stone of the project was laid Nov 16, 2007 by Achuthanandan and since then, barring a few board meetings, there has been no movement in the project.

Earlier Smart City Dubai chief executive Fareed Abdulrahman had said the company wanted the land holding issue settled first.

He added that the company had put on hold recruitment of additional human resources until the freehold issue was resolved.

However, Sarma said the demand was “outside the purview of the agreement”.

“See, we just can’t violate the agreement. If we do so, then it would lead to endless rounds of controversies,” he added.

Meanwhile, the state Youth Congress has called for a march towards the project site June 1, calling for the government’s speedy action to bring the project into reality.

Youth Congress leader P.S. Prasanth said the protest meet would be inaugurated by Leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandy.

“The state government instead of blaming others first have to do its job. We just can’t afford to lose this project,” said Prasanth.

Source