Kerala govt to float firm for IT park projects

The Kerala department of information technology has firmed up plans to float an IT infrastructure company soon.

According to N Radhakrishnan Nair, chief executive officer of Thiruvananthapuram Technopark and Kochi Infopark, the government will hold 51 per cent in the new venture and the remaining will have private participation.

"The new company, which is yet to be named, will be an apex body that will undertake and monitor works relating to building IT parks across the state."

In each IT park project, the company will hold 26 per cent and the remaining will be open to private participation.

District centres will house information technology parks, with the government already having lined up proposals for a hub-and-spoke model of IT infrastructure. Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi would play the hubs. Special purpose vehicles (SPVs) will be formed to take up the projects in district centres. A study on this is currently being undertaken by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC).

The first such IT park has been proposed to come up in Kozhikode on 75 acres of land.

On the proposed Technocity project in Thiruvananthapuram, Nair pointed out that "the land acquisition process in around 208 acres is almost complete."

The project has been proposed to come up on 507 acres of land and is estimated to incur an investment of Rs 4,500 crore. It is being planned as a fully integrated IT city, complete with all infrastructure facilities and public amenities.

PwC has also taken up studies relating to the Technocity project as well as the third phase of expansion of Technopark, Nair added.