Digital Cities of the 21th Century

Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan today said the government has not terminated negotiations with Dubai-based Tecom for developing SmartCity IT park at Kochi and it will consider alternative partnership only as the last resort. His statement, made in the state Assembly, came close on the heels of Tecom officials’ announcement during SmartCity board meeting at Kochi yesterday that the company would not shy away from a legal battle if the government went to court for arbitration. Replying to questions on the long-dragging project, Achuthanandan said negotiations with Tecom were still on and the question of going for an alternative partner would arise only as a last option.

However, he added that there was no question of yielding to the Dubai company’s demands such as “free-hold” right for part of the land since they were outside the original agreement. Since the LDF Government came to power, projects worth Rs 10,000 crore have been initiated out of which Rs 2000 crore was direct government investment, he said. In the last four years, the IT sector boom in Kerala has been three times higher than the national average. The state maintained the growth trend even during the global recession, he added.

A board of directors meeting of the proposed Rs.1,500 crore Smart City Kochi concluded here Monday without taking any decision on the fate of the IT project. At the same time, the developer Smart City Dubai said it has no plans to pull out from the project. Speaking to reporters here after the meeting, Smart City Dubai chief executive Fareed Abdul Rehman said: “Some more discussions have to take place because certain issues have to be resolved. We are not asking for anything new but just want those things that have been already written in the agreement and we have not asked anything new.” He also invited the Chief Secretary of the state to visit their office in Dubai and to see what they are doing there. Smart City Dubai is sticking to the agreement where it has been mentioned that they would get 12 per cent freehold rights (around 30 acres from the 246 acres).

The Kerala government is adamant that it will not allow any real estate dealing and it is on this that the project is hanging fire. Interestingly, State Fisheries Minister and Smart City Kochi Chairman S. Sarma did not attend the meeting. And for the first time there were protests at the venue of the meeting. Members of the youth organisation of the ruling Left Democratic Front and the Revolutionary Socialist Party shouted slogans asking the state government to impelement the project.

TECOM makes it clear that it has intimated Govt of Kerala that its intention is not to sell the freehold land long ago. Moreover, freehold is sought for the Indian company Smart City Kochi with Minister S. Sarma as its chairman, and not for Tecom.

In between all the unclear and doubtful talks on smart city, a ray of hope for another development project in Kerala. This is the Medical city is from D.M health care group. The group is having plans of establishing various medical firms throughout Kerala. The Medical city at Cochin will be a 500 crore project. The group is having plans of investing 800 crores in the Medical field of India. Along with the medical city Cochin the group will establish a medical college at Wayanad. The new plans were announced by the chairman of the group Dr. Asad Muppan.

The Medical city will be constructed in 35 acres of land. The project will be constructed in 2 phases. In the initial stage hospital with 500 beds, convention centre, Hotel facility for Guests and relatives of patients, accommodation facility for doctors and staff will be constructed. In the second stage expert facilities for specialized branched will be established. This includes modern treatment facilities for specialties as eye, heart and cancer. The group is also conducting several social service activities in the medical field.

Even as Smart City Dubai last week served an ultimatum to the Kerala government saying the proposed Rs.1,500-crore Smart City Kochi IT project cannot be kept hanging ‘endlessly’, a board meeting ended Wednesday with differences of opinion continuing between the two partners.

Emerging from the hour-long meeting, Smart City Kochi chairman and State Fisheries Minister S. Sarma told reporters that talks would continue. ‘You know there are differences of opinion between us and Smart City Dubai. The chief minister is out of station, and once he returns, we will brief him about what happened today and a date for another round of discussion would be decided,’ said Sarma. Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan had in November 2007 laid the foundation stone for the mega IT park at Kochi — to be built by Smart City Dubai — which will come up on a 246-acre plot and is expected to create 90,000 jobs. But since then, nothing has moved with differences cropping up over granting of 12 percent freehold rights to Smart City Dubai.

While the Dubai partner wants a written agreement that this would be given after the master plan is ready, the government is not ready to give inalienable rights to them. Fareed Abdulrahman of Smart City Dubai, who is also Smart City Kochi chief executive, said his company wished to make it clear that it did not want freehold land immediately, but only after the master plan was prepared. ‘We will make it happen, we will make it happen,’ Abdulrahman said. With both parties hopeful of resolving the issues, it now remains to be seen when the next meeting takes place.

It seems the much hyped Smart City project is moving towards uncertainty. But IT companies are not bothered about its future and are busy designing and implementing new projects.Beating the recession wave 11 companies have set their foot in Infopark, Kochi, last year. It is a great achievement especially in this tough economic conditions. According to Mr.Kurien, senior technical advisor, Infopark, “Right now we are unable to meet the demand for space. The total number of companies functioning from Infopark has risen from 48 in March last year to 59 this year,’’

With the completion of IT parks in Koratty and Cherthala, the IT sector will see a giant leap, he said. “The work of the 70,000 sq ft IT park at Koratty will be completed in four months. The work of the IT park at Cherthala will begin in a couple of months. In addition to this, Technopark Trivandrum is getting ready to construct India’s biggest single IT building in Trivandrum. The Smart City is a concern for mostly realtors and job seekers. “IT firms planning to come to Kochi do not make enquiries about the Smart City project.They are more concerned about the infrastructure and other facilities here,’’ said an official with the Infopark. But the authorities are not making any effort to enhance the infrastructure here. The slow pace in which the government machinery is functioning is creating problems. Despite these constraints, Kochi has turned out to be a fertile land for IT firms. But job seekers in the city are a disappointed lot due to the delay in the implementation of the Smart City project as well as the ongoing economic conditions.

Hill International Inc. said Monday it has been awarded a $9.1 million contract to manage construction of a technology center in the southeastern Indian coastal city of Kochi. Hill International said the contract from SmartCity Infrastructure Private Ltd. for work on the SmartCity Kochi development is expected to run two and a half years. Hill’s responsibilities will range from project administration to document control and master scheduling.

SmartCity Kochi is being developed on about 300 acres designated as a special economic zone, and is expected to become one of India’s largest business parks, Hill said. The project’s first phase is expected to cost $350 million. Shares of Hill International fell 8 cents to $16.81 in afternoon trading.

More informations at : http://ir.hillintl.com

The way for implementation of the Smart City project in Kerala’s port city of Cochin has been cleared with the federal government granting special economic zone status (SEZ) to the mega IT facility. The board of approvals for the SEZs, which met in New Delhi yesterday, has granted the SEZ status to 136 out of 246 acres of land acquired for the project, said State IT secretary Ajay Kumar. The remaining area was not considered along with 136 acres as it is separated by a river. The BoA has sought a separate application for SEZ status for 100 acres of land acquired from the Kerala Stat Electricity Board. Ajay Kumar said the application would be submitted before the next meeting of the board next month. The last BoA meeting deferred a decision on the SEZ status following a complaint filed by one Kuruvilla, alleging that the land for the project was acquired without ensuring proper rehabilitation of the displaced. The board rejected the complaint after considering the explanation furnished by the state government.

The project promoted by the Dubai-based TECOM in joint partnership with the Kerala government, envisages creating 8.8 million sq ft of built-up space and supporting infrastructure for IT and IT-enabled service companies. The SEZ status brings a slew of benefits to the developers. They include 10-year tax holiday, Exemption from duties on all imports for project development, 10 per cent FDI for all manufacturing activities, speedy approvals, clearances and customs procedures and dispute resolution etc.

There will be no foreign ownership restrictions in developing zone infrastructure and no restrictions on repatriation. The developers also get freedom to develop township with residential areas, markets, play grounds, clubs and recreation centers without any restrictions on foreign ownership. Smart City project director Baju George told reporters at New Delhi after the BoA meeting that the master plan for the project would be submitted next month. “We are hopeful that we would be able to begin the work on the infrastructure project by September”, he added. The Smartcity has already shortllisted four national and international companies for preparing a detailed master plan. The foundation stone for the project was laid by Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan last November. The project modelled on Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City and Dubai Knowledge Village has an employment generation potential of over 90,000 jobs over 10 years.

Last week Kochi played host to a scintillating ceremony to lay the foundation stone for what has been billed as one of India’s largest knowledge-based industry townships : Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan and Fareed Abdurrahman, Executive Director, Dubai’s Tecom Investments, were in a decidedly upbeat mood as they announced grand plans for the SmartCity Kochi project promoted by Dubai’s SmartCity, the joint-venture company formed by Tecom Investments and Sama Dubai, both members of Dubai Holding.

Lauding it as a fine example of public-private participation, the Chief Minister said the SmartCity project aims to become a “township for knowledge-based companies.” The project will be based on the successful business models of Dubai Internet City and Dubai Media City and Dubai Knowledge Village. With an estimated investment of $350 million, the project aims to create 8.8 million square feet of built-up space with necessary infrastructure, environment and support systems, which will be offered to knowledge-based companies. It will also offer a host of business support services as well as residential, hospitality and recreational facilities.

TRIVANDRUM: 13 May, 2007 – The Government of Kerala and SmartCity (a joint venture between TECOM Investments and Sama Dubai) today signed the final agreements to establish SmartCity Kochi at a ceremony held in Trivandrum. The agreement was signed in the presence of V S Achuthanandan, the Chief Minister of Kerala by Ahmad Bin Byat, Executive Chairman of TECOM Investments and Lizzie Jacob, Chief Secretary of the Government of Kerala. Also present were Farhan Faraidooni, Executive Chairman of Sama Dubai, Abdullatif Almulla, Chief Executive Officer of TECOM Investments and Fareed Abdulrahman, Executive Director of SmartCity.

SmartCity Kochi will be one of India’s largest business parks. Covering 1 million square metres of land, the project will create an infrastructure and environment for knowledge-industry companies – primarily IT and media related firms – to grow and flourish, based on the successful models of Dubai Internet City and Dubai Media City.