Last hurdle goes for SmartCity

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Thiruvananthapuram: The SmartCity project, coming up over 246 acres in Kochi, cleared the final hurdle before it, on Friday, by bagging single SEZ status for which its promoter, Dubai-based Tecom, was fighting for long.
The project is expected to generate one lakh jobs in IT and ITeS sectors in the coming five-and-a-half years. The decision, taken by the approval board for Special Economic Zones that met in New Delhi, would enable the project to have a single master plan and more flexibility in the execution of the project.
The SEZ approval board agreed to the demand on the state government’s assurance that a bridge would be constructed across River Kadambrayar to connect either side of the project. The single SEZ status was delayed on the issue of the river dividing the land into two. The project had received SEZ status for 131 acres earlier.
“It would take one to one-and-half months for the SEZ notification to come. The work can begin once the notification is ready,” said IT principal secretary P.H. Kurien who attended the board meet along with SmartCity managing director, Baiju George.
The project would also have to get environmental clearance for which the process would begin soon, Kurien said. The government, a partner of the project, had recently given ` 12 crore for it. The first building of the project is expected to be completed in 18 months.
Tecom would organise a workshop in Dubai on January 23 to discuss the master plan. Another workshop would be held in Kochi on January 31 when more elaborate discussions are planned. The SmartCity board meeting on the same day is expected to clear the masterplan. Chief minister Oommen Chandy and IT minister P.K. Kunhalikutty are expected to attend it.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said that with the decks being cleared for the Smart City project, construction of the bridge connecting the two portions of land would be completed even before the stipulated time of 18 months. He also said that the UPA government at the Centre continued to be lenient in removing hurdles faced by the state in its development initiatives. Relaxation in Cabotage law for the Vallarpadam International Container Trans-shipment Terminal, DMRC taking up the Kochi Metro Rail project and now the single SEZ for Smart City were some instances, he said.