New IT facility in Kerala to open next week

A brand new 3.3 lakh square feet building, which has a special economic zone (SEZ) classification, will open on January 21 as part of the second phase of the Thrissur Infopark campus in Kerala.

The Thrissur Infopark is located around 30 km from the main Kochi Infopark campus.

Infopark CEO Hrishikesh Nair said this campus has the potential to be developed into a major IT hub.

"Infoparks Kerala has a growth of around 30 percent year-on-year, and majority of this export turnover is from the Infopark Kochi campus. With the current focus on Infopark Thrissur, it is expected to grow at par with Infopark Kochi in the coming years," said Nair.

The new block built at a cost of Rs.76 crore is expected to provide 3,000 direct jobs to start with, and around 10,000 jobs at its full operational capacity.

On January 21, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will open this new facility, besides handing over keys to five new companies that have already booked the space.

The first phase was developed by renovating a few residential villa type structures which provided business space to startups and SMEs and is now fully occupied with 30 companies performing well in the past five years and which employ 700 IT professionals.

The biggest advantage this facility offers is that the place is around 30 percent cheaper compared to the Kochi Infopark campus, making it economical for new companies.