Smart City Ph I to go on stream by Oct '12

The first phase of the IT infrastructure project, Smart City, would be commissioned by October, 2012.

Announcing this after a discussion with a  high-level team of Dubai's Tecom today, chief minister Oommen Chandy said the agreement inked by the Left Front government would not be altered, but the project would proceed as per the central SEZ Act. Any alteration in the agreement would delay the project further, which is late by around six years as the MoU was signed in 2005.

Chandy said an additional four acre of Kinfra land in the Kakkanad area near here would be allotted to Smart City in order to increase the total area to 250 acres. During the LDF regime, 246 acre was allotted to the project.

Industries minister PK Kunjalikkutty is tipped to become chairman of the joint venture between Tecom and the state government while the chief minister will act as the patron of the company. The government has also decided to appoint T Balakrishnan, principal secretary - Industries, as secretary of the company. K Babu, minister of excise and ports and MA Yousuf Ali, a Dubai-based NRI businessman, have also been included on the board.

The project office will be  functional from August and foundation stone laying of the office complex will be held in October. The first phase, the construction of which will commence in October, will have total area of 300,000 sft. The government will soon notify the project area as an industrial township. The chief minister said Tecom had proposed to extend  the seaport-airport road connecting the project site to Kochi - Madurai National Highway on the south. There is also a proposal to extend Kochi metro rail to the project site through Irumpanam, near here. All such proposals will be discussed in detail on  Saturday, he added.

The Rs 3,000-crore project is expected to provide job opportunity to around 90,000 IT professional upon completion.