Praveen

Kochi: The Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday entrusted chief secretary Neela Gangadharan to submit within three weeks a report on ways to resolve outstanding issues hampering the implementation of the proposed SmartCity Kochi project.

It was decided that the chief secretary will hold discussions with Tecom, the promoters of the proposed project, to know their position on a variety of issues, including on their demand for 12 per cent freehold land, Fisheries Minister S. Sarma, who is also the chairman of the SmartCity Kochi project, told The Hindu.

At the same time he made it clear that the chief secretary will also explain the government’s stand on those issues. Ms. Gangadharan had been asked to submit a report based on these talks.

Mr. Sarma said that the State government was not against granting the demand for freehold land provided it was used for the development and auxiliary projects of SmartCity Kochi. He, however, said that the government concernwas over whether the land so allotted would be used for real estate or such other commercial purposes.

During the meeting, the chief secretary would ask the promoters the purpose for which they plan to utilise the freehold land, Mr. Sarma said.

Asked what response his recent demand for convening a meeting of the director board of SmartCity Kochi had evoked, Mr. Sarma said that all further developments on the project depended on the outcome of chief secretary’s proposed meeting.