With Kerala keen on winning the ambitious Smart City project ahead of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, the delegation of Dubai Internet City (DIC) began the two-day wrap-up discussions with the State Government representatives here today.
The team, on its second visit, arrived here this morning and held discussions with the State government officials besides visiting the proposed sites at Infopark at Kakkanad and Brahmapuram near here.
DIC chief planning and business development officer Deepak Padmanabhan assessed the sites as quite potential but did not further commit on the chances of Kerala winning the project against stiff competition from neighbouring States of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
After final discussions with representatives, including the Chief Secretary, the team would fly back to report to the Director Board for a final decision on the project.
It is learnt that the DIC, which was offered free land by other States, was not ready to accept the 64-acre land here at Rs 134 crore, as quoted by the State Government and had asked for lowering the prices.
However, the four-member senior DIC delegation is believed to be satisfied with the connectivity and other advantages here but the final roadblock is the prices of the land.
Kerala had committed on 100 acres to DIC free of cost. The existing Infopark facility and the campus comprise the 100 acres committed by the government in return for a DIC offer of 33,000 jobs within the first year of starting business. Initial investments are estimated at 400 million dollars.
However, the Government later fixed prices to the land after general criticism that it was gifting away the prime land to the foreign player.
The DIC team, after its first visit to the City and issues about land, had visited Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore later, thus putting the three other States also in the race for the project.
According to the Smart City plans, it requires another 300 acres to set up project where IT majors in Dubai are expected to move in along with the DIC.
The team, on its second visit, arrived here this morning and held discussions with the State government officials besides visiting the proposed sites at Infopark at Kakkanad and Brahmapuram near here.
DIC chief planning and business development officer Deepak Padmanabhan assessed the sites as quite potential but did not further commit on the chances of Kerala winning the project against stiff competition from neighbouring States of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
After final discussions with representatives, including the Chief Secretary, the team would fly back to report to the Director Board for a final decision on the project.
It is learnt that the DIC, which was offered free land by other States, was not ready to accept the 64-acre land here at Rs 134 crore, as quoted by the State Government and had asked for lowering the prices.
However, the four-member senior DIC delegation is believed to be satisfied with the connectivity and other advantages here but the final roadblock is the prices of the land.
Kerala had committed on 100 acres to DIC free of cost. The existing Infopark facility and the campus comprise the 100 acres committed by the government in return for a DIC offer of 33,000 jobs within the first year of starting business. Initial investments are estimated at 400 million dollars.
However, the Government later fixed prices to the land after general criticism that it was gifting away the prime land to the foreign player.
The DIC team, after its first visit to the City and issues about land, had visited Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore later, thus putting the three other States also in the race for the project.
According to the Smart City plans, it requires another 300 acres to set up project where IT majors in Dubai are expected to move in along with the DIC.
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