KOCHI: Chief minister Oommen Chandy said here on Saturday that the Union government would soon give single special economic zone (SEZ) status for the land handed over to SmartCity which is bifurcated by a river that flows through it.
Speaking after inaugurating the office-cum-sales pavilion of SmartCity, Chandy said the Central government had made certain changes in the norms in order to do this. As per the norms, single
SEZ status can't be given to land divided by natural boundaries like rivers or canals. "The Union government changed the norms at our requests, and is expected to issue orders in this regard soon," Chandy said.
The construction of the first phase of the IT buildings of the SmartCity project would begin within one and-a-half year. There won't be any further delay in implementing this prestigious project, he said.
To a query, he said the cost of the project had gone up to Rs 2,000 crore from the original estimate of Rs 1,500 crore owing to the delay in implementation. The construction of the sales pavilion had been delayed. "And that was mainly because of the changes made in the size of the building. The pavilion was initially designed as a 5,500 sq ft building. Later, it was changed to more than 10,000 sq ft," the CM said. There were many hurdles in the way of the project, and the government kept overcoming them, he said.
Of the proposed 30 lakh sq ft built-up area, the 3.5 lakh sq ft building, which is to be constructed as part of the first phase, would be completed within 18 months, he said.
Tecom Investments CEO Abdullatif Al Mulla, who delivered the key-note address, however, differed on the deadline. He said the first IT building would be completed only within 24 months. To a query, Al Mulla said Tecom faced no cash crunch. He, however, didn't provide any data to substantiate his claims.
Industries and IT minister P K Kunhalikkutty, who is also the chairman of SmartCity, presided over the meeting. Finance minister K M Mani, excise minister K Babu, PWD minister V K Ibrahimkunju, K P Dhanapalan MP, S Sarma MLA, Benny Behnan MLA, V P Sajeendran MLA, M A Yusuf Ali, Norka Roots vice chairman and special invitee on SmartCity director board, and Baju George, SmartCity Kochi managing director, also spoke on the occasion.
Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com