Nine IT majors in the race for developing Technocity

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Larsen & Toubro, Raheja and Suzlon are among the nine major groups who have come forward for developing the Technocity, the-state-of-the-art IT township set up by the State Government on 500 acres in the state capital.

Emaar MGF, Maytas, Sun Forrester, SREI, Brigade and Ramki are the other major groups that have responded to the request-for-qualification’ (RfQ) invited by the Kerala State IT Infrastructure Limited (KSITI) for developing IT and IT-Enabled Service projects at the Technocity as well as the third-phase of the Technopark. The RfQ was released on May 28. The last date for submitting applications was June 30.

A committee headed by Chief Secretary P.J.Thomas will scrutinise the applications. The committee will have Secretaries of IT, Industry, Finance and Law Departments and Chief Executive Officers of the Technopark and the Infopark as its members. Those who do not satisfy the conditions prescribed in the tender notice would be rejected. The Cabinet should approve the final list of developers for the Technocity.

IT Secretary Ajay Kumar said that the land acquisition process for the Technocity at Pallipuram, around five km away from the Technopark, was progressing and the construction works were expected to begin within six months. The Technocity would have all the facilities of a town, including a school and a hospital, on its premises.

While 70 percent of the space would be utilised for IT-related activities, the remaining area would be utilised for other supporting infrastructure. The projects would be developed on a Public-Private Partnership (PPP)-basis with the KSITI holding 26 percent equity.

The developers will have to form a `special purpose vehicle’ (SPV) for executing the project. The SPV will be responsible for designing, engineering, financing, procurement, construction, marketing, operation and maintenance of the project. The project will be carried out in three different ranges - IT/ITES project for parcel size up to 50 acres; IT/ITES Project for parcel size greater than 50 and up to 100 acres; IT/ITES Project for parcel size greater than 100 acres.