Smart City Kochi - Under Planning & Development

[mohammedirshad06]

Finally, things are going well...

Dubai's Tecom and partners are planning to start construction of the SmartCity project in Kochi in November, a statement said.

The second project monitoring committee meeting of the SmartCity Kochi project was held in Dubai under the Chairmanship of Ahmad Humaid Al Tayer, Member of the Supreme Fiscal Committee of Dubai and attended by Abdul Latheef Al Mulla, Vice-Chairman, SmartCity and Group CEO Tecom, Dr Adnan Chilwan, Deputy CEO, Dubai Islamic Bank, Suresh Kumar, CEO of Emirates NBD Capital, Yousuf Ali M.A., Vice-Chairman of Norka Roots, Government of Kerala, and Dr Baju George, Managing Director, SmartCity.

The meeting reviewed the progress of the project and set a time line for the first year's activities and allotted the required funds for the same.
As per the reports available, the work on SmartCity Pavilion, which will showcase the various advanced technological advancement of SmartCity Kochi will begin on September 29.

Special invitees

This pavilion will also have the offices for the Administrative and Project Management team.

"As per our project plan the work on headquarters building will commence on November 19 and the rest of the work will be implemented in a time bound manner," said Abdul Latheef Al Mulla after the meeting.

Taking into consideration the importance of the project and need for speedy decisions, the committee decided to induct Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy as an honourable special invitee to the SmartCity Kochi Board. Kerala Ports and Excise Minister K. Babu and Yousuf Ali M.A. have also been made special invitees.

"The decisions taken today are very important and will further boost the effective implementation of the project in a mutually beneficial manner" added Dr Baju George.

"I am sure, with the inclusion of Kerala CM and the fixing of a dateline for various activities, the project is going in the right direction and we can soon see the positive impact of this in the economic scenario of Kerala" said Yousuf Ali.

[mohammedirshad06]

As part of ensuring its commitment and offering a hardcore full fledged Smart city experience to all potential investors, TECOM will soon commission a make-shift Pavilion in the Smart city land, known as Experience Smartcity Pavilion.

The facility will be around 5500 sqft, which will serve as temporary office to the Smartcity Kochi officials. The masterplan will be displayed here, offering a total view of the plan. In addition, offices of Single Window Clearance board will be also made available for assisting potential investors.

The new Headoffice complex, planning to be completed within an year with 3 lakh sqm facility, which will be a miniature Smartcity for potential investors for plug and play operations.

http://www.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bi...D=@@@&tabId=11

[agnath.]

Originally Posted by mohammedirshad06

The new Headoffice complex, planning to be completed within an year with 3 lakh sqm facility, which will be a miniature Smartcity for potential investors for plug and play operations.

Good news from smartcity front ....

The new Headoffice complex, planning to be completed within an year with 3 lakh sqm facility, may be this is a typo from manorama. Is it sqft or sqm ? 3 lakh sqm would be too mammoth a structure for 1st phase ... thats more than the size of current infopark.

[mohammedirshad06]

Originally Posted by agnath.

Good news from smartcity front ....

The new Headoffice complex, planning to be completed within an year with 3 lakh sqm facility, may be this is a typo from manorama. Is it sqft or sqm ? 3 lakh sqm would be too mammoth a structure for 1st phase ... thats more than the size of current infopark.

I too had this doubt.... 3 Lakh SQM means somewhat around 30 lakh sqft.... But I see only Manorama reporting this news. And I don't think, its a typo, as yesterday's Manorama news too they reported in Sqm terms. Normally in India, we don't report much in Sqm terms, while in UAE its more common.

I hope soon, it will be clarified. If its 3 lakh sqm, surely it will mega mammoth.... But it may require services of Deva's Architect Lord Vishwakarma to complete such a facility within a year, if they are going to stick with timetable....

[KMC]

Originally Posted by mohammedirshad06

I too had this doubt.... 3 Lakh SQM means somewhat around 30 lakh sqft.... But I see only Manorama reporting this news. And I don't think, its a typo, as yesterday's Manorama news too they reported in Sqm terms. Normally in India, we don't report much in Sqm terms, while in UAE its more common.

I hope soon, it will be clarified. If its 3 lakh sqm, surely it will mega mammoth.... But it may require services of Deva's Architect Lord Vishwakarma to complete such a facility within a year, if they are going to stick with timetable....

My feeling is its surely a typo ...... head quarters need not be 3.5 SQ Mtr
its sqft only , and that too I doubtr can be completed in a year...in our state

[mohammedirshad06]

[DileepKS]

SmartCity work to begin next month

The much-delayed SmartCity project, being promoted by the Dubai-based Tecom, moved one step closer to realisation with a high-level meeting in Dubai on Sunday deciding to start work on September 29.

According to reports reaching here, the Dubai Government Project Monitoring Committee, which met in Dubai on Sunday, allocated funds for the initial construction. Though unspecified, the fund would be enough for the first year's construction work. The work on a ‘SmartCity pavilion' would begin on September 29 while the construction of the company's headquarters will start on November 19.

The meeting was chaired by Tecom chairman Ahmed Humaid Al Thayar. Two other senior officials of Tecom Abdul Latif Al-Mulla and Adnan Chiwani attended the meeting apart from SmartCity Kochi's managing director Baiju George, National Bank of Dubai CEO Suresh Kumar and Gulf-based Kerala businessman M.A. Yusufali.

Special invitee

The meeting is reported to have decided to make Chief Minister Oommen Chandy as a special invitee at the SmartCity company's board meetings. Excise Minster K. Babu and Mr. Yusufali also will be invited.

With the scheduling of the start of work on the project which has been hanging fire for nearly five years, the project is moving from a long period of uncertainty to the first step of execution.

[Malayaali]

Investments at SmartCity Kochi to exceed Dh1.6b

SmartCity Kochi, an information technology cluster to be built in the Indian state of Kerala by Dubai’s TECOM Investments, is expected to cost Dh1.6 billion, about Dh400 million more than previously projected, a top official said.
According to TECOM, the business parks arm of Dubai Holdings, the project’s initial investment was estimated at Dh1.2 billion ($350 million) to be spent on building the infrastructure, said SmartCity Managing Director Dr Baju George told Khaleej Times in an interview. He said that the project was given a 10-year deadline, but has now been cut to 5-1/2 years because “we want to move faster.”

Dr George said the second Project Monitoring Committee meeting was held last week in Dubai, under the Chairmanship of Ahmed Humaid Al Tayer, Member of Supreme Fiscal Committee of Dubai Government. Topics discussed then were the review of the project’s progress and the setting of timelines for the first year’s activities aside from allocating the required funds to start construction of the headquarter building and enabling infrastructure.

According to available reports, the work on SmartCity Pavilion will begin on September 29. This pavilion will also have the offices for the administrative and project management team. “As per our project plan, the work on the headquarter building will commence on November 19,” Dr George said.

Taking into consideration the importance of the project and the need for speedy decisions, the committee decided to induct Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy as a Special Invitee to the board. Kerala’s Ports and Excise Minister, K. Babu, and Yusuffali M.A. have also been made special invitees, a statement said. “The decisions taken are very important and will further boost the effective implementation of the project in a mutually beneficial manner,” added Dr George. He said the IT project, which will have a built-up area of 8.8 million square feet, will see construction of 20-25 buildings, to be built by the Kerala Government, as part of its 16 per cent stake in the project.

Dubai Internet City will focus more on marketing, while SmartCity will allow international IT technology companies to establish their software development facilities. The project, in its first three to four years, is expected to create 20,000-25,000 direct jobs, while a total of 90,000 jobs will be added until the full development of project.

The initial feedback from potential IT firms, who wanted to set up their facilities in Kochi, is very positive, Dr George said. Those firms were approached through Internet City, he added.

Khaleej Times

[mohammedirshad06]

The proposed SmartCity Kochi project is expected to cost Rs.2,000 crores, about Rs.500 crores more than what was previously projected. According to Tecom sources, the project’s initial investment was estimated at UAE Dh 1.2 billion (about Rs.1,500 crores) to be spent on building the infrastructure. This has now been revised to Dh 1.6 billion. The project which was given a ten year deadline has now been cut to five and half years.

The second Project Monitoring Committee meeting of the SmartCity Kochi project was held in Dubai on August 21, 2011. The meeting had reviewed the progress of the project and set the timeline for the first year's activities and allotted the required funds for the same. The work on SmartCity Pavilion, which will showcase the various advanced technological advancement of SmartCity and the offices for the Administrative and Project Management team, will begin on September 29. As per the project plan, the work on the headquarter building will commence on November 19.

According to Dr. Baju George, MD, SmartCity Kochi, the project will have a built-up area of 8.8 million sq. ft. with about 20 - 25 buildings. The Kerala Government has 16 percent stake in the project. Tecom’s Dubai Internet City will focus on marketing while SmartCity will allow multinational and international IT technology companies to establish their software development facilities.

The project is expected to create about 25,000 direct jobs in its first three to four years and a total of 90,000 jobs is expected when the project is completed. The initial feedback from potential IT firms, which were approached through Dubai Internet City, who wanted to set up their facilities in SmartCity Kochi, is very positive, he added.

http://keralaitnews.com/other-it-new...ed-2000-crores

[agnath.]

Request of M/s. Smart City (Kochi) Infrastructure Private Limited for addition
of land in the sector specific SEZ for IT/ITES at Kanayanoor Taluk, Ernakulam
District, Kerala
The above mentioned SEZ was notified on 1st March, 2011 over an area of
53.1809 hectares. The developer has requested to add a part of land admeasuring
46.3773 hectares to the already notified SEZ, thereby making the total area of the SEZ as
99.5582 hectares. The request was considered in the BoA meeting held on 22ndJuly, 2011
and was deferred. The minutes are as under:-

“The Board noted that the land parcel proposed to be added to the existing
SEZ is separated from the SEZ by a water body. The Board has to consider a
specific plan for establishing contiguity in the proposed enlarged SEZ before
granting approval. This plan has to be prepared in compliance with all
statutory, environmental and other requirements and approvals from State
Government/other entities. The plan needs to be submitted for examination to
the jurisdictional Chief Commissioner (Customs and Excise) alongwith the
Development Commissioner, Cochin SEZ, and a report would have to be
submitted for consideration of the Board. The Board clarified that the report
needs to include an assessment of likely expenses to be incurred for
establishing contiguity. The Board further clarified that no duty benefits would
be permissible for the expenses incurred for establishing contiguity. The Board
deferred the proposal to the next meeting and advised the applicant to quickly put a plan together so that the case could be taken up for consideration.”


The developer has submitted a master plan to DC CSEZ for establishment of
contiguity. As per master plan, contiguity is to be established with bridges and estimated cost
for the bridges is Rs. 80 crores which is included in the project cost. The developer has also
enclosed drawings and images of the proposed bridges and location of the same marked in a
satellite picture. The developer has stated that till the contiguity is established as above the
three areas will independently protected by compound wall/fencing as required and three area
will be operating as independent bonded areas and there will be no chance for revenue
leakage. Report of the DC along with a copy of letter dated 25thAugust, 2011 of the
developer is at Annexure - 7. The request of the developer for increase in area is submitted for consideration of the
Board of Approval.

Source : http://sezindia.gov.in/writereaddata...ember_2011.pdf

[DileepKS]

All in expected lines only.

[mohammedirshad06]

Saw a television update that Smart City Kochi's administrative activities will be commenced in its temporary office by end of this month. The internal postings are now completed and the new MD will take his formal charge at Kochi office. This was informed by P.K Kunjahalikutty in his press meet.

[Malayaali]

SmartCity project work to begin in October

Project headquarters in first phase

Industries Minister P.K. Kunhalikutty said here on Thursday that work on the SmartCity project would begin in October.

Mr. Kunhalikutty said a high-power committee of the promoters of the project had decided to apportion funds for the construction work for the next one year. Construction of the project headquarters spanning three-lakh sq.m. would be taken up in the first phase at an outlay of Rs.1,500 crore. The government has issued orders declaring the project area as an industrial township. He said 250 acres of land would be utilised for the project.

Mr. Kunhalikutty said the Industries Department had taken necessary steps in the last 100 days to attract investors and strengthen public sector undertakings in the State.

The government would go ahead with the inception of the 10 industrial units started by the previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) government.

He said several industrialists had evinced interest to invest in the State. Videocon Industries had already announced its plan to make investments of Rs.200 crore in the State.

As part of the efforts to improve infrastructure facilities for the IT industry, the government had formed Kerala IT Infrastructure Ltd. A sum of Rs.14 lakh had been sanctioned to overcome the crisis in the textiles sector. An investors' meet, ‘Emerging Kerala', would be held in Kochi from April 19 to 21 next year. The State government would soon host a high-level meeting of the Industries Departments of the southern States. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Mr. Kunhalikutty will attend the summit on infrastructure development to be held in Hyderabad on September 20 and 21.

• Project area has been declared industrial township
• 250 acres of land will be utilised for the project

The Hindu

[sakrishna]

Manorama Online

[mohammedirshad06]

The proposed SmartCity Kochi received a shot in the arm on Monday with a meeting of the Board of Approval (BoA) of the Union Commerce Ministry approving Special Economic Zone status for the remaining 114 acres of the total 246 acres.

The land will be notified as SEZ once the formalities are completed and requisite documents are submitted. Formalities, it is learnt, are likely to be completed within a month.

The decision has laid to rest apprehensions over whether the entire project site would be notified as a single SEZ as there was a water body separating the land into two parts. It was feared that a single SEZ status would not be granted on account of the contiguity factor.

The decision will also give more clarity to discussions when the board of directors of SmartCity Kochi meets in Kochi in a week.

“The single SEZ status will help to create the social infrastructure required to fulfill the knowledge township envisaged by SmartCity in Kochi. Multiple SEZ would have fragmented the entire processing and created hurdles in creating clusters of companies,” Baju George, Managing Director of SmartCity (India), told The Hindu.

He said that it will also give an impetus to the preparation of a master plan as there is now clarity about the land. Mr. George said that though the law did not prohibit giving a single SEZ status to land separated by a water body, SmartCity Kochi is one among the first to be granted such a status.

Of the 246 acres of the project site, 132 acres was notified as SEZ in March this year. A meeting of the BoA held later that month had deferred decision on an application seeking SEZ status for the remaining 114 acres on account of impending Assembly elections.

Similarly, the decision on applications from three other States — West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu — and the Union Territory of Puducherry, which were also set to go to polls, was also deferred.

Though the meeting deferred the application, it laid to rest at that time itself concerns over whether 114 acres, which were part of the 246 acres but separated by a water body, would be denied SEZ on the ground of contiguity factor. The BoA’s relaxation of the contiguity factor at that meeting on applications from other States with similar issues of contiguity assured a favourable decision in the case of the Kochi project as well.

Besides, the letter recommending SEZ by the Cochin SEZ Development Commissioner had also sought for a waiver of the contiguity factor.

[DileepKS]

The actual 'hair-splitting' question was, whether the duty exemptions apply to the activities facilitating the bridge. The BoA said no. The logic being, the exemptions apply AFTER the ground is made to qualify.

No problem with that. Anyway, it is past now. Let them start building asap.

[mohammedirshad06]

It is good news for the proposed SmartCity Kochi as the Board of Approval (BoA) of the Union Commerce Ministry has sanctioned Special Economic Zone status for the remaining 114 acres of the total 246 acres allotted for the project. The status is expected to be conferred within a month.

The site's 132 acres was given the status in March this year.

The board of directors of SmartCity will meet next week to decide the next course of action as this decision on SEZ has given clarity to the whole process.

There was a concern that a single SEZ status would not be awarded to the project site which was divided into two by a water body.

According to the authorities, SmartCity is one of the first projects to be given a single SEZ status as the site was separated by a water body. The BoA had deferred the application on granting SEZ during the election time, posing concern to the authorities.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...w/10048228.cms

[mohammedirshad06]

The proposed SmartCity Kochi received a shot in the arm on Monday with the Board of Approval (BoA) of the Union Commerce Ministry approving Special Economic Zone status for the remaining 114 acres of the total 246 acres.

The land will be notified as SEZ once the minutes of the meeting is approved and the State government writes to the BoA. Formalities, it is learnt, are likely to be completed within a month. Of the 246 acres of the project site, 132 acres was notified as SEZ in March this year.

The intimation conveying the grant of SEZ status clearly states that, the entire 246 acre could be treated as a single SEZ or multiple SEZ. The decision thus lays to rest apprehensions over whether the entire project site would be notified as a single SEZ as there was a water body separating the land into two parts. It was feared that single SEZ status would not be granted on account of contiguity factor. The decision will also give more clarity to discussions when the board of directors of SmartCity Kochi meets in Kochi in a week.

Knowledge township

“The single SEZ status will help to create the social infrastructure required to fulfil the knowledge township envisaged by SmartCity in Kochi. Multiple SEZ would have fragmented the entire processing and created hurdles in creating clusters of companies,” Baju George, Managing Director of SmartCity (India), told The Hindu .

He said that it will also give an impetus to the preparation of master plan as there is now clarity about the land. Mr. George said that though the law did not prohibited giving single SEZ status to land separated by a water body, SmartCity Kochi is one among the first to be granted it.

A meeting of the BoA held in March had deferred decision on an application seeking SEZ status for the remaining 114 acres on account of impending Assembly elections.

Similarly, decision on applications from three other States – West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu - and the Union Territory of Puducherry, which were also set to go to polls, was also deferred.

Though the meeting deferred the application, it laid to rest at that time itself concerns over whether 114 acres, which were part of the 246 acres but separated by a water body, would be denied SEZ on the ground of contiguity factor.

The BoA's relaxation of contiguity factor at that meeting on applications from other States with similar issues of contiguity assured a favourable decision in the case of Kochi project as well.

________________________________________________________________

• It can be treated as a single SEZ or multiple SEZ
• An impetus to the preparation of master plan

________________________________________________________________

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper...cle2472170.ece

[sathya_226]

Has they awarded construction contract to any Contractors??? Any news on the consultants who are behind this job?

[KMC]

This is very disgusting ,

KOCHI: The prestigious Smart City Kochi project is likely to suffer further delays, according to political sources familiar with the development.

Sources said on condition of anonymity that work on the headquarters of Smart City as well as the administrative and project management team offices, which was scheduled to begin on September 29 and November 19, respectively had been postponed to April next year to coincide with the Emerging Kerala 2012 investment meet.

Promoters of Smart City Kochi project will consider raising debt to part-finance the development activity currently underway. The land acquisition of 246 acres for the much-awaited IT township was completed recently and Special Economic Zone (SEZ) approval was gained for a 114-acre site from the board of approval (BoA) of the Union commerce ministry. Of the 246 acres of the project site, 132 acres were notified as SEZ in March this year.

SmartCity (India) managing director Baju George said the project promoters might need to raise debt according to the progress of the project from this point on.

SmartCity is currently a debt-free entity. "Following the revision of the project investment estimate recently, we will look at raising some funding from either internal accruals, term loans or via the ECB (external commercial borrowing) routes," said Baju George, adding that the exact debt-to-equity ratio in this case was yet to be worked out.

At the second project monitoring committee meeting of SmartCity Kochi project held in Dubai on August 21, the project's initial investment estimate was raised from UAE dirham 1.2 billion (about Rs 1,500 crore) to dirham 1.6 billion (Rs 2,000 crore). The project completion deadline has been reduced to five-and-a-half years from the earlier ten years.

The project, planned over 8.8 million sq ft, has buckled up authorized capital of Rs 680 crore, while Rs 120 crore is the paid-up capital. "There was a need to speed up development work of the project, and hence, the deadline was tightened," George said.

SmartCity is now scouting for co-developers who can set up wholly-owned premises within the SEZ. "If IT companies approaching us wish to build, own and operate on their own premises, we will bring them in as co-developers in the project," he said.

Tecom Dubai holds 84 percent in the project and the Kerala government owns the rest. The state government can exercise the option of increasing its holdings in the project to 26 percent after five years.

The proposed knowledge city is expected to create about 25,000 direct jobs in its first three to four years and a total of 90,000 jobs when the project is completed.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...w/10089395.cms