Kerala - Kochi   

Annual rent of Re.1 an acre

KOCHI: The yearly token rent that has been fixed for 235 acres of land being handed over for the Smart City project in Kochi works out to Rs.235, or roughly about Re. 1 an acre per year. This is an interesting detail in the 99-year lease agreement that the government entered into with Smart City (Kochi) Infrastructure Private Ltd. just before the foundation stone for the project was laid last month in the city.

The company paid about Rs.99 crore as “one-time premium” for the 234.54 acres of land being provided to it by the State government.

The lease deed, which has just been made public by the Kerala State IT Mission, states that construction of buildings in the leasehold land should commence “within 90 days of the closing date as agreed to by the parties” and should be carried out in accordance with the mutually agreed Development Plan.

The Smart City company does not require any permission or approval from the government for sub-leasing the leasehold land or the buildings constructed in it to any third party, “for the purpose of development in accordance with the Development Plan” and for carrying out its operations.

The company also does not require official permission for mortgaging its leasehold rights in respect of leasehold land or the buildings constructed on it for securing any loans or advances, the lease deed states.

The deed also specifies that the total area of built up space “shall be at least at 88,81,207 square feet,” provided that the minimum of 70 per cent of the space thus constructed shall be utilised only for IT/ITES and related facilities for such work area and employees.”

The use of the built-up area for any other purpose requires government permission.

The company should also not make any excavation for any non-project related purposes and cannot remove “any mineral substances or sand or clay” from the leased land.

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