The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : Pact provides for more land: SmartCity

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Pact provides for more land: SmartCity

Staff Reporter

KOCHI: SmartCity on Saturday justified the State government's decision to allocate an additional four acres for its project in Kochi, stating that it was well within the provisions of the original framework agreement.

Baju George, managing director of SmartCity (India), said that the agreement provided for allocating about 167 acres for the project in the future in addition to land for a four-track road connecting two blocks.

He was talking to reporters after a meeting with the authorities of the Kerala State Electricity Board and the Gas Authority of India over their proposals with implications for the project land. Mr. George said that despite the decision to convert the project to a Multi-Service Special Economic Zone, the framework agreement identifying the project as an IT/ITES-centric one remains unchanged. It would, however, help to attract more companies, he said. The framework agreement was silent about land utilisation as the emphasis was on the built-up area.

As per the framework agreement, 70 per cent out of the proposed built-up area of 88 lakh sq.ft, which was the minimum legal obligation on the part of SmartCity, should be utilised for IT and ITES. This clause stands unchanged, Mr. George said.

Even though the Central SEZ Act provides for utilising the project land for IT and commercial purposes in the ratio of 50:50, it would not have much bearing on SmartCity Kochi owing to the provisions in the framework agreement, Mr. George said.

Marketing office

The provision on built-up area was more stringent than the one on land utilisation, as in the case of the latter, the investors had more freedom, he argued. He said that a state-of-the-art marketing-cum-sales office would be set up at the earliest at an ideal location on the project site.

The previously prepared concept master plan would be improved up on to reflect the technical advancements that had taken place since then. “We are expecting to have a renewed concept master plan by this October delineating the location of the first administrative block of 3.5 lakh sq.ft,” Mr. George said. SmartCity was in the process of finalising a new agency for master plan preparation following a decision to replace the previous agency.

The capital investment for the project will be significantly increased from the previously conceived Rs. 1,500 crore.

Mr. George said that both SmartCity and the State government would have to make additional contributions alongside the progress in the construction of the project.

The annual general meeting of SmartCity Kochi was also conducted. Padmanabha Pillai, Joint Secretary, State IT Department, was present.

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