Technopolis to be Kolkata's first green IT park

Real estate developer Rahul Saraf is venturing into the IT space with Kolkata's first green building, Technopolis.

Technopolis, the integrated intelligent workspace, would be spread over 6.75 lakh square feet and would be completed by March 2006 with an investment of Rs 90 crore.

The main features of the Technolopis were an auditorium with workstations, plaza, gym, business centre, pharmacy, convenience store, apart from the commercial space for the IT companies.

However, Saraf said, the USP of Technopolis was that it would be Kolkata first green building and the country's third. A green building, it maybe mentioned, encompasses the use of clean energy, renewable energy, efficient use of water, use of recycled or recyclable materials and provide healthy indoor air quality.

Saraf said, the cost of operations in a green building were around 30 per cent lower than a normal building. However, investment was 15-20 per cent higher.

Saraf clarified, even though investment would be higher than a normal building, rents would be at par with the existing intelligent buildings. The building would house 5,000 people.

The other intelligent building that would come up in 2006 were Infinity Benchmark. In 2005, DLF, Infinity tower 2 and Millennium Tower 2 were expected to be completed.

According to the state IT department, four million sqaure feet of space would be dedicated for the IT and ITES sector by March 2006 and over the next six months, 40-50,000 people would be working in the sector, from the current level of a little more than 20,000.