The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : DIC team impressed with Kochi's facilities

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 03, 2004

Kerala

Kerala - Kochi

DIC team impressed with Kochi's facilities

By Our Staff Reporter

KOCHI, NOV. 2. The State's dreams of being a Information Technology hub have found new hope after a high-level team from Dubai Internet City (DIC), which was hunting for locations in India for replicating their success story, was impressed by Kochi's facilities.

A top official of the State IT Department said that the discussions with the DIC team, held over two days, ended on a positive note. The official said that Kochi had impressed the Dubai team and it stood a great chance of being chosen for its India venture.

The four-member DIC team, led by its Director, Fareed Abdul Rehman, arrived in Kochi on Sunday. The team met the Information and Technology Minister, P. K. Kunhalikutty, on Tuesday. The Minister backed the DIC initiative and promised all help for the project, it is learnt.

The Chief Executive Officer of InfoPark, Girish Babu and Secretary, Information Technology, Aruna Sundararajan, led the discussions for the State Government.

Scenic locale

The DIC team has been taken in by the 1,006-acre plot promised by InfoPark at Kakkanad. The architect in the DIC team was impressed by the locale and surroundings, said an official who accompanied the Dubai team.

A portion of the plot of land they visited runs along the small river Kadampuzhayar and provides scenic setting and a quiet atmosphere.

The District Administration is learnt to have expressed its willingness to hand over 200 acres of the land immediately for the first phase of the project. The project, involving an investment of Rs. 2,000 crores in the first phase, aims at setting up a city complete with amenities such as hospitals, educational institutions and the world's best communication and transport infrastructure.

MoU likely

The DIC team will submit its findings on Kochi within 10 days to the Board of Directors of the company. Once the Board approves the project, the State Government expects a letter of interest for the project from the DIC.

An official who was part of the discussions pointed to the possibility of a high-power team from Dubai visiting Kochi before a memorandum of understanding (MoU) is signed for the project. The MoU is expected by December end.

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