Muthoot Group too joins Smart City race

With the talks between the Kerala government and the Dubai-based Tecom for the proposed Smart City project getting nowhere, more players have begun throwing their hat into the ring, hoping to bag the deal to set up an IT park at Kochi.

The latest to jump into the fray is the Kochi-based Muthoot Pappachan Group, which has evinced interest in setting up an IT park at the location earmarked for the proposed Smart City at Kakkanad in Kochi. The group wants to set up the park on 200 acres of land at an investment of Rs 2,500 crore.

The Muthoot's proposal comes close on the heels of the Hong Kong-based JB Group of Companies' announcement of its intention to set up a similar park on 100 acres of land at Kakkanad at an investment of Rs 1,500 crore.

According to Thomas George Muthoot, director, Muthoot Pappachan Group, representatives of the group met chief minister V S Achuthanandan and submitted a proposal in this regard. He said that the group had formally expressed its interest in developing an IT park at Kochi with a built-up area of 20 million square feet, with all support amenities.

"We have requested the government to provide us 200 acres of land on a 99-year lease basis. We are willing to offer Rs 90,000 a cent as one-time lease rental. The chief minister positively reacted to consider our request," he added.

According to Thomas George Muthoot, as much as 26 per cent equity in the project would be offered to the state government, while 23 per cent would go to non-resident Keralites (NRKs), based mainly in the US.

The remaining would be with the Muthoot Pappachan Group. He added that "the project will be built to international standards by engaging the best consultants and the development would provide facilities for large, medium and start-up companies." The financial closure for the project would be completed within three months of execution of the agreement, he said.

Adding that the first phase of the project would be operational in 24 month from the date of signing of an agreement with the state government, he said that the proposed IT park would have a processing area of 14 million sqft and non- processing area of 6 million sqft, which would house a star hotel, residential apartments, shopping mall, and recreation and sports facilities.

He said that the group was hopeful of providing direct employment to about 80,000 professionals in three years' time.

The Muthoot Pappachan Group has made investments to the tune of Rs 300 crore in its core business areas -- financial services, and sectors like hospitality, infrastructure and automobile dealerships.

The group recently commissioned Technopolis in the Cochin Special Economic Zone at an outlay of Rs 50 crore, which houses IT majors like Cognizant, Sutherland, Wipro and Williams Lea.