Smart City stuck
on land issue
Smart City Kochi, a joint venture between Tecom of Dubai
and the Kerala government, has announced temporary closure
of its office at Kochi with immediate effect.
Chief executive officer of the project Fareed Abdulrahman
on Tuesday said the office fit-out at Josh Towers and
the recruitment of additional human resources were on
hold till the freehold issue is resolved. However, he
confirmed that the personnel who were assigned to the
project were still involved in its development.
This is the latest turn in the tussle between the state
government and Tecom over freehold and registration
of title deed of the land assigned to the project. Tecom
demands 12 per cent of the total 246 acres for the proposed
project be given on a freehold basis when the title
deed is registered. But, according to the original agreement,
freehold of 12 per cent of land would be executed only
when the master plan of the project is finalised and
approved.
A top government source said the government had no
idea about the Smart City office in Kochi and the closure
move would not have much impact on the progress of the
largest IT project in south India.
The foundation stone for the Rs 1,700 crore IT infrastructure project was laid
by state chief minister VS Achuthanandan on November
16, 2007. But even after 17 months, the project is still
lagging due to tussle between Tecom and the government
over registration of land. The government source said
they could not go back from the terms of the original
agreement since this would create allegations against
the LDF government.
The proposed project at Edachira near Info Park at
Kakkanad is expected to create job opportunities for
around 90,000 when fully operational. The government
has allotted 235 acres on a 99-year lease basis, receiving
Rs 99.15 crore. But the registration of the title deed
is still pending and the work at the site is yet to
begin.
The state government holds 16 per cent in the joint
venture. The project would develop 8.8 million sft of
area for IT and IT-enabled services within ten years.
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