Thaindian News

Kochi, June 9 (IANS) Kerala Saturday stepped up efforts to make itself prominent on the IT map of India and the world with Chief Minister Oomen Chandy launching a project in the Smart City Kochi, a Rs.5,000 crore venture which is expected to provide jobs to over 90,000 professionals.

Eight years after the Information Technology (IT) city project was first conceived, Chandy Saturday also inaugurated a state-of-the-art 10,000 sq ft sales pavilion within its premises besides laying the foundation stone of the first phase of a 3.5 million square feet building.

Numerous companies have shown interest in opening shops in the IT city, a knowledge based industry township.

“This pavilion is late by three months… They have assured us that first phase of the 3.5 million square feet building would be ready in 18 months,” said Chandy.

Chandi laid the foundation stone for the first phase of the 3.5 million square feet building in the city. Smart City Kochi is being built by Smart City Dubai.

In 2004, Chandy had first announced this IT project, which is expected to provide jobs to 90,000 professionals. It was allegedly stuck after the previous Left government re-wrote the major agreements that was initially planned.

Abdul Lateef Al-Mullah, the Group CEO who represents the Dubai company said: “We have been receiving a lot of enquiries and partners that are interested to invest in the state of Kerala. These enquiries are not just locally or nationally but globally. Kerala is on every company’s map right now and such companies will play a very important role in the economy of Kerala.”