Kerala signs Smart City agreement

Ending long-drawn negotiations, Kerala government has signed an agreement with the Dubai Technology and Media Freezone Authority (TECOM) here on Sunday to set up the Smart City IT park in Kochi.

The pact was signed here at 01.00 p.m. at the Muscat hotel.

Besides making a leap in IT development in Kerala with great job-generation scope, the deal is also seen as a big achievement for Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan on the eve of the LDF ministry's first anniversary.

Achuthanandan has been largely instrumental in bringing the promoter round to accept several vital conditions of the government to secure the state's long-term interests, including those pertaining to land lease and the government stake in the venture.

His firm stance also made the overseas promoter to shed its demand for the state-run Infopark at Kochi and that no other IT venture would be allowed to come in the region close to the Smart City.

The Smart City proposal came up when the UDF was in power, but could not clinch a deal as the assembly election was announced before the pact was finalised. The LDF, then in opposition, had taken on the then Oommen Chandy Government accusing it of having surrendered the state's interests abjectly before the Dubai company.