Sunday, May 15, 2005
Sunday, May 15, 2005 |
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Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Kerala
P. Venugopal
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The `Smart City' project, when decoded into simple arithmetic, means this: the Dubai Internet City (DIC), the company behind the smart business concept, will get hold of 298.27 acres of prime land in Kochi suburbs by spending a sum of just Rs. 36 crores initially. The DIC will also get nearly 3.25 lakh square feet of built up space at the Infopark in the area. The value of the infrastructure at the Infopark, along with that of 62.27 acres of Infopark land that forms part of the 298.27 acres earmarked for the `Smart City', is fixed at Rs. 109 crores. Against an unspecified portion of this amount, the State Government will get nine per cent of the stakes in the `Smart City'. The DIC will pay the Government in cash the unspecified remaining amount. Neither the Government nor the DIC has as yet revealed what the total size of the investment on the project will be. There have been vague statements to the effect that this is a Rs. 1,500-crore project. Only after the memorandum of understanding on the project is signed will there be information available on the size of the project and the debt-equity ratio preferred by the promoters. How good a deal is the `Smart City' is a hotly debated question in the State today. The Chief Minister, Oommen Chandy, highlights the promise of the promoters to create 33,000 jobs in 10 years and declares that he is ready to face any allegation "for the sake of the job seekers in the State." The Leader of the Opposition, V. S. Achuthanandan, dubs the deal as a "real estate swindle." The understanding between the Government and the DIC is that, of the 298.27 acres to be given for the `Smart City', 100 acres will be free-of-cost. The cost of the Infopark and the 62.27 acres of land in its possession is meant to be set off against the nine per cent Government equity in the `Smart City' (with an unspecified amount to be given to the Government in cash). It is only for the remaining 136 acres of adjoining land that the DIC is required to pay the cost to get the `Smart City' started. The cost fixed for these 136 acres is Rs. 36 crores. According to information given by an official, who does not want to be identified, the Government has spent close to Rs. 90 crores on the 62.27 acres of land and infrastructure of the Infopark. The entire 3.25 square feet of built up space in the Infopark had been taken by IT and ITES companies. The Infopark is earning over Rs. 7 crores a year from these companies. The day the deal is signed, the DIC, by shelling out just Rs. 36 crores, will come into the possession of 3.25 square feet of built up space and other infrastructure of the Infopark earning over Rs. 7 crores a year, in addition to 298.27 acres of land.
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