Tecom to open office in Kochi to fast track Smart City project

Construction work on the Rs 2,000-crore Smart City project at Kochi will commence in six months and the first phase will be commissioned in the next five years.

The director board meeting of Smart City Kochi held on Tuesday in Dubai also decided to open a local office here soon and post a full-time executive officer for its speedy implementation. The meeting decided to give Abdul Latheef Al Mulla, CEO of Tecom, the full additional charge of the project.

The Dubai meeting was held at the request of Tecom, the overseas partner of the project. PK Kunjalikkutty, state minister for industries and IT and PH Kurien, principal secretary - IT represented the Kerala government.

The government recently sent a letter to Tecom warning them over the delay in commencing the construction work. There are allegations that the Dubai company was soft pedalling the project because of its financial crisis.

The project was originally mooted in 2004 and then Chief minister Oomen Chandy inked the MoU in September, 2005. Later, the LDF ministry signed the contracts twice, but the construction did not start. Tecom had demanded ownership of the free hold land of over 28 acres with selling right, which was rejected by the LDF government. Meanwhile, around 128 acres of the 247 acre project site got SEZ status.

Tecom has only set up a pavilion at the site. The company is demanding single SEZ status for the entire area, which is not possible according to the SEZ rules since a river divides the entire area into two.

Kunjalikkutty said construction would commence soon and the government would exert maximum pressure to get single SEZ status for the project.

Meanwhile, Tecom said the master plan could be finalised only after getting SEZ status for the entire area.

Smart City (Kochi) Infrastructure Private Limited is a joint venture company formed to develop the Kochi Smart City . The Kerala government hold 16 per cent in the JV while Tecom Investments, a subsidiary of Dubai Holding, holds the rest. The project envisages a minimum 8.8 million sft of built-up space of which at least 6.21 million sft. will be specifically for IT, ITeS and allied services. The project is expected to create over 90,000 direct jobs upon completion.