Tecom eyeing 30 acres of prime land to raise fund

Arjun Raghunath


First Published : 28 Jun 2010 05:51:27 AM IST
Last Updated : 28 Jun 2010 05:53:15 AM IST

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: THE firm stand being maintained by the Tecom for freehold of 12 percent of the land earmarked for the Smart City Kochi project has sparked off suspicions that its promoters want to catch the big fish without wetting their hands.

It is reliably learnt that the Tecom plans to raise the funds for the Smart City Kochi project from the 12 percent land for which it is staking claim for freehold. A total of 246 acres have been earmarked for the project and 12 percent of it would come to around 30 acres.

The lowest-minimum market value of 30 acres of land itself comes to around Rs 150 crore. Even in the case of the Smart City Malta project, a major chunk of the total land allotted for the project is being used for real estate development.

Moreover, Malta being a European country, the project would also pave way for an easy entry to European countries for the Dubai-based Tecom authorities, sources point out.

However, official spokesperson of the Tecom maintained that the conditions of the Malta project could not be compared with that in Kerala and the laws in the two countries are entirely different.

The spokesperson also added that there would not be any turning back from Tecom’s demand for freehold on 12 percent land.

Tecom tweets and interacts in Facebook to protect its image

Meanwhile, Tecom promoters are planning to launch a series of campaigns in the state in order to protect its image.

It had recently started tweeting and interacting in Facebook.

Despite the stalemate, neither Tecom nor the State Government wants to do away with the project and hence it still remains live.

Though Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan often reiterates that the Government would come up with alternative projects for Smart City Kochi, he is also quite aware of the backlash his Government would face if the much-hyped Smart City Kochi meets with a premature death.

As of now there are no indications that either the Government or Tecom will keep away the board meeting of Smart City Kochi scheduled to be held in Kochi on Monday. Smart City Kochi chairman and Fisheries Minister S Sarma will lead the State delegation and Smart City Kochi Chief Executive Officer Fareed Abdul Rahman will lead the Tecom delegation at the board meeting.

Over the past one year there had been several rounds of talks between the State Government and Tecom over the 12 percent freehold issue.

All the meetings remained inconclusive. It may be recalled that the industry leaders like Infosys Chief Executive Officer Kris Gopalakrishnan and Group of Technology Companies president V K Mathews had recently stated that the delay in commissioning the project was sending wrong signals about the investment climate in the State.

Both, Goplakrishnan and Mathews, had stressed the need for setting up IT Parks of world standards so as to attract the leading players in the IT field to the state.