Smart City Kochi (cochin), Kerala, India - News

Kerala launches campaign to attract foreign direct investment

2012-04-20T22:49:00.000-07:00

The Kerala government on Friday launched a campaign to attract foreign direct investment ( FDI) and said the state had unveiled a single-window mechanism for clearing investment proposals.
"Kerala is ready for investment. We want to send out a message to the world that investment is welcome,'' CM Oommen Chandy told a meeting of senior diplomats, heads of multilateral agencies and chiefs of trade missions here. Chandy urged the heads of foreign missions to take the message to their countries and help facilitate the flow of investment. The meeting was held in the run up to the emerging Kerala Global Connect show scheduled at Kochi from September 12 to 14. View Full Story from source

Kochi Metro Rail hands over rs 15 crore to DMRC

2012-03-05T03:33:00.001-08:00

The Kochi Metro Rail Corporation today handed over Rs 15 crore to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation for undertaking preparatory works for the Rs 5000 crore Kochi Metro Rail project. The amount is for construction of Salim Rajan Railway over bridge, North railway overbridge, widening of Banerjee road, South railway station road and MG Road, Kochi Metro Rail Managing Director Tom Jose said. The total cost for the preparatory works is Rs 158.68 crore, of which Rs 38 crore, including Rs 15 crore, has been handed over to DMRC, a press release here said.

E Sreedharan to head Kochi Metro

2011-11-22T21:29:00.000-08:00

Finally, the announcement has come. India's metro man E Sreedharan has been chosen to head the Kochi Metro rail project. Electricity minister Aryadan Mohammed said on Tuesday that the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) chief would be given charge of the project and he would oversee the construction works.

The minister made the announcement after holding talks with Sreedharan in New Delhi. A team of ministers, including chief minister Oommen Chandy and senior officials held discussions with the DMRC chief.

Sreedharan had earlier expressed his willingness to render any service to the state. He is currently the managing director of DMRC. His tenure with Delhi Metro will end by December 31, 2011.

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Central nod to Chennai-model Kochi Metro rail

2011-10-13T00:11:00.000-07:00

The Ministry of Urban Development has reportedly given approval to model the Kochi Metro rail on the lines of Chennai Metro rail.

A draft in this regard has been prepared by the Cabinet.

There will be no private participation in the project. The amount which was earmarked for the project will be increased to Rs. 5,016 crore from Rs. 1,886 crore, as 51 percentage of the amount will be taken by way of loan.

The project will be submitted before the Cabinet only after receiving a nod from the Finance Ministry.

Kochi SmartCity commences; phase-1 to be completed in 2 yrs

2011-10-09T09:52:00.000-07:00

KOCHI: Construction of the much delayed Rs 2,000 crore SmartCity project at the nearby Kakkanad commenced today and the first phase is expected to be completed in two years.

Within 24 months the project's first phase would be ready and is expected to provide about 7,000 jobs, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said after performing the "ground breaking ceremony" of the 6,000 sq ft pavillion building, which will be completed within 14 weeks.

SmartCity is a conglomerate promoted by Dubai Holding member, TECOM Investments, to develop and manage Knowledge industry Townships Worldwide. It is based on Dubai's models of Internet City, Media City and Knowledge Village to promote the growth of 'knowledge-based' companies.

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Govt grants SEZ status to entire Kochi Smart City area

2011-09-20T02:48:00.000-07:00

The Union commerce ministry today granted the status of a special economic zone (SEZ) to 114-acre site of the proposed Smart City project in Kochi. With this, the SEZ status has now been accorded to the total area of 246 acres of the proejct.

Earlier, in March this year, the government had sactioned SEZ status only to 132 acres as the total project area is divided into two by a river in the middle.

The latest move is expected to lead to a smooth sailing of the Rs 2,000-crore mega IT infrastructure project. Samrt City Kochi managing director Baju George said that the decision was very positive for the progress of the proejct.

Meanwhile, the work on the Pavilion of SmartCity, which would showcase project's various features, will begin on September 29. The pavilion would also have the offices for the administrative and project management team of the project.

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A smart route map for Kochi Metro Rail

2011-06-26T07:57:00.000-07:00

The dream IT project of Kochi, the Smart City, may soon get metro rail connectivity. The state government has decided to extend the alignment of Kochi Metro Rail to the proposed Smart City site.

The authorities will soon start the study for foxing the alignment for the new route. “We have decided to extend the alignment. It will be fixed without much delay,” said Minister Aryadan Mohammed who is in charge of the Railways in the state.

According to the existing plan, the metro rail starting from Nedumbassery will end at Petta in Tripunithura. The authorities are exploring the possibilities of two routes. The first proposal is to extend the metro rail line to InfoPark at Kakkanad from Petta. The second option is to provide a connecting line from Petta to Kalamassery so that the trains will run in a circular route around the city. “We have to conduct studies about extending the project to Kakkanad. The study will start after getting the directive from the state government,” an official with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation said.

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Kerala Chief Minister:No need for anxiety with regard to Kochi Metro project

2011-06-26T07:49:00.000-07:00

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy today said there was no need for any anxiety with regard to land acquisition for the much delayed Kochi Metro Rail project, which is now estimated to cost about Rs 5000 crore. The land acquisition process has to be completed within six months. The government would be formulating a new land acquisition policy keeping in mind the hardships of those who were forced to surrender their land at Moolampally, he said.

Those giving land for development projects would be entitled to various concessions and would also get market value for their land, Chandy said addressing a high level meeting of ministers, MLAs and businessmen on the Kochi Metro Rail project. The Kochi metro would be a transparent project and all information would be available on the website. Within a month, an office of the project would be opened here, he said. The government had set apart Rs 25 crore for widening of the Thammanam-Pullepady road, which would be used to divert traffic once the North overbridge, the busiest in Kochi, is widened.

Union minister K V Thomas, state minsiters-- Aryadan Mohammed, K Babu, T M Jacob, V K Ibrahim Kunju, MLAs, MPs and Kochi Mayor Toni Chammany were among those who participated in the meeting. Electricity minister, Aryadan Mohammed said government's wish was to complete the project within 4 years once it gets clearance. According to estimates, the project cost could touch Rs 5000 crore, he said. Railway officials also took part in the meeting. The Kochi Metro, to be based on the Chennai model, is being planned to run between a 26 km stretch from Aluva to Tripunithura and is expected to ease traffic woes in the state's commercial capital.

SmartCity Kochi project set to finally take off by October

2011-06-23T23:29:00.000-07:00

The much awaited SmartCity Kochi project got a fresh set of deadlines and impetus today after a meeting of the delegates from Tecom, the promoters of the SmartCity Kochi project, with the Kerala Government in Trivandrum. Tecom would reopen its Kochi office before August 31, 2011 and present the concept master plan by September. The work on the first phase 3.5 lakh sq.ft. building would start by October 31 and this would be rolled out by October 31, 2012.

Briefing the media, Chief Minister Shri Oommen Chandy said, “This is the realisation of a long cherished dream. The SmartCity Kochi project has been finalised and new deadlines have been set. The project would be carried out within the framework of the existing agreement worked out by previous Government. As any change in the agreement at this stage would further delay the project, we opted against it. However a major change is that now the Central Government SEZ norms will be applicable to this project.”

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First phase of Smart City Kochi project to be commissioned soon

2011-06-23T23:28:00.000-07:00

The first phase of the proposed mega IT project, Smart City Kochi, would be commissioned before Oct 31, 2012, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said Thursday.
The Oommen Chandy-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government, which had first finalised the project during its previous term, held its first meeting Thursday with the builder of the project, Smart City Dubai.

Addressing reporters here along with the Dubai officials, Chandy said all the issues have been cleared and an action plan for the project has been drawn up.

‘Before August 31 this year, their office that was closed down last year at Kochi would be reopened. On Oct 31, the foundation stone of the headquarter building of the project would be laid and the same day the construction work for the first phase (3.5 lakh square feet) would begin and it would be finished latest by Oct 31, 2012,’ said Chandy.

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Tecom to pump in more funds for Smartcity Kochi

2011-05-17T23:19:00.000-07:00

Tecom, the promoters of the SmartCity Kochi project, is in the process of pumping in more funds to take the project forward.

While Emirates NBD, a leading banking group in UAE, will be main financier, support finance is being sought from the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) Bank.

IDBI Bank had consulted one of the director board members of SmartCity Kochi to evaluate the feasibility of the project. The bank is said to have received a positive feedback.

In a letter sent to the then Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan last month, the Supreme Fiscal Committee of the Dubai government had emphasised the need to pump in further investments by SmartCity and the State government in the ratio of 84 per cent and 16 per cent respectively during the three quarters between April and December this year. The initial investment of Rs. 120 crore made by the partners had been exhausted on acquisition of land, project development cost and operating expenditure since 2007.

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Dr Baju George is the new Smart City Kochi CEO

2011-05-17T23:14:00.000-07:00

In an effort to expedite the works of Smart City, Kochi, the Tecom has decided to appoint Baju George as the managing director of the project.

It was the five-member committee headed by the supreme council of Dubai Holdings, the parent company of the Tecom, that selected Baju George as the managing director.

Baju George who is currently holding the post of project director of Dubai International Financial Centre was the project director of Smart City when it was floated.

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MA Yusufali has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the UAE government’s Zakat Fund

2011-03-16T04:13:00.000-07:00

Renowned NRI businessman MA Yusufali has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the UAE government’s Zakat Fund. The decision to appoint Yusufali at the top post was taken by the UAE Federal Government, thus making him the first Indian to decorate the position. The tenure is for three years.

The appointment of Mr Yusufali will be highly helpful for the functioning of the Zakat Fund, said Board Chairman and Minister of Justice Dr Hadif bin Juvan al Dahiri, according to reports. Eleven renowned UAE citizens have also been included in the Director Board. The Zakat Fund was launched by the UAE government in 2004 to spread the importance of the Zakat in the society and thus to strengthen human values and relations. The government reportedly allots lakhs of UAE Dirhams annually for it.

Mr MA Yusufali is the MD of the Emke Group based in Abu Dhabi which has diversified itself into several areas such shopping malls, super markets, department stores etc. The business empire of this Keralite hailing from Thrissur is spread over 29 countries in Asia and Africa, the major share being in the Gulf countries. His company is building the biggest shopping mall and convention centre in India which will reportedly be opened in Kochi in 2012.

He has recently been in news for his successful role as the mediator between the Kerala Government and the TeeCom Group in connection with the famous Smart City project in the state. The Smart City project came up during the time of the last government in 2003 but several controversies including the difference of opinion in certain conditions and the global economic crisis created fears in the realization of the dream project in Kochi. However, the final deal was signed last month and Mr Yusufali’s contributions as the mediator were highly appreciated.

Yusufali was awarded the coveted Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2008 for his contributions to commerce and industry as well as his services in the social work. He is also the recipient of the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (2005), the highest award of the Indian government to the Non-Resident Indians. He is the first Asian to be a member of the Director Board of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industries, when he won an election to it in 2005. He was again elected to the body in 2009. He is also serving in a number of posts such as member of the Prime Minister’s Global Advisory Council of Overseas Indians and member of the Board of Directors of the Air India.

SmartCity Kochi:smart opportunities have come knocking at the doors of job hunters in Kerala

2011-03-15T01:56:00.000-07:00

Finally, smart opportunities have come knocking at the doors of job hunters in Kerala. Putting an end to the wait for starting the construction works of Smart City Kochi, Tecom, the promoters of the project, has invited applications to various top posts for carrying out the work.

According to www.smartcity.ae, the official website of Tecom, the company wants a construction manager, document controller and senior engineers for design, mechanical and engineering services, buildings, infrastructure and cost control.

Kochi is set to become a predominant destination for the information and communications technologies (IT/ITES) industries. Being developed as a joint venture between SmartCity, a member of Tecom Investments, and the Government of Kerala, SmartCity Kochi will be home to vibrant knowledge-economy communities worldwide, anchored by leading local, regional and global companies, the site says.

To assist in achieving this vision, SmartCity Kochi is currently recruiting resultoriented, self motivated and dynamic professionals in these disciplines, the website says.

It was after clearing many hurdles that the Tecom and the Kerala Government signed a fresh lease agreement giving a new lease of life to the Smart City Kochi on February 23. Then, on March 2, the Union Government issued a special economic zone (SEZ) notification for 131 acres of the 246 acres handed over to Smart City project. The Union Government had already given the final SEZ approval for the 131 acres. The state government has started measures to secure SEZ status for the balance 115 acres.
Tecom had made it clear that the construction work would begin immediately after the issuance of the SEZ notification.

The construction of the boundary wall and the administrative block will be started on the 131 acres of land for which the SEZ notification has been issued. The works of the master plan for the project has almost been completed.

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Kochi to get country's first health mall

2011-03-03T06:06:00.000-08:00

A one-stop solution for all medical and health needs -- from doctors, hospitals, ayurveda centres, pharmacies and even insurance referral units -- will open in a 10-storied mall in this Kerala city.

The BCG group, a Rs.500-crore business conglomerate, is building the country's first multidisciplinary health mall here and it will be open by August, a company official said Thursday.

Spread over 110,000-square feet, the mall will include retail stores dealing with pharmacy, optical ware, skin care products, cosmetics, ayurvedic, herbal, organic, health foods, health and medical equipment, Rekha C. Babu, CEO of BCG Group, told reporters.

A separate floor will be for allied services where medical colleges, hospitals, ayurvedic centres and insurance companies can set up their referral centres.

'Medical colleges that want to inform students about its facilities or a hospital which wants to educate people on latest treatment procedures can also use this space,' she said.

The fourth and fifth floors will have wellness clinics and rejuvenation centres.

'Six more multiple malls under the brand name BCG Health Square will come up across the state in the next five years. Such health malls are found in Singapore, Malaysia, the US and Europe,' she added.

The BCG Health Square will have 44 rooms in the sixth and seventh floors and private clinics on the eighth, ninth and 10th floors.

These spaces can accommodate doctors who want to set up their own independent practices with the option of utilizing centralized services like patient management desk, secretarial assistance and call monitoring managed by the company, she said.

There will also be adequate parking space.

The BCG Group was founded by Babu C. George in 1980 and forayed into real estate business in 2003.

The company has developed more than 8.5 million square feet of commercial and residential projects across Kerala, a company statement said.

The group has also diversified into education and healthcare sectors, it said.

SEZ status for 132 acres in Kochi SmartCity

2011-03-01T04:20:00.000-08:00

The Central Government Tuesday issued a directive assigning Special Economic Zone (SEZ) status for 132 acres of land at the proposed Kochi SmartCity site. The rest of 114 acres of land will get the SEZ status in ten days.

Following this, SmartCity promoter Tecom will launch construction activities at the project site.

Kochi Smart city lease deed singed

2011-02-23T01:01:00.000-08:00

The State government and the Tecom singed the lease deed for the proposed Smart city project here on Wednesday. Smart city board chairman, minister S Sarma and Abul Lathif Almulla, TECOM CEO signed the deed at the board of directors meet held here. Suresh Kumar IAS, IT principal secretary and industrialist MA Yousafali also attended the meeting. Two separate lease deeds covering the entire 246 acres. one for 131 acres and another for the rest of the 115-odd acres for the proposed Smart City Kochi project were signed.

After the meet Sarma said that all the confusions and apprehensions over the project are over now.

Vytilla Bus Terminal video

2011-02-22T22:38:00.001-08:00

SmartCity Kochi lease deed to be signed tomorrow

2011-02-22T04:24:00.000-08:00

Two lease deeds to cover entire 246 acres of project area
: Surviving a difficult period marked by speculations over the fate of the project, the proposed SmartCity Kochi project will get off the blocks this Wednesday.

Two separate lease deeds covering the entire 246 acres — one for 131 acres and another for the rest of the 115-odd acres — will be signed on Wednesday. K. Suresh Kumar, IT Principal Secretary, and Abdullatif Almulla, CEO of Tecom Investments Group, the parent company of the promoters of the project, will be the signatories.

Both the parties had agreed on the lease deeds, which the Cabinet had also cleared. Ahead of signing the fresh lease deed, the one that expired will be cancelled.

The land will also be registered in the name of SmartCity Kochi Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, the special purpose vehicle formed for the execution of the project. The government will provide registration and stamp duty exemptions as agreed at a meeting held earlier this month. The board meeting and lease deed signing was originally scheduled to be held last Wednesday. But it had to be postponed at the last minute after Mr. Almulla's son met with an accident and had to undergo an emergency surgery.

The signing of lease deeds will be preceded by a meeting of the Board of Directors of SmartCity Kochi. The meeting will be held at 9 a.m. on the Infopark Kochi campus.

According to sources, SmartCity Chief Executive Officer Fareed Abdulrahman, who is also a member of the Board of Directors, has not been included in the Tecom delegation.

However, government sources, denied that his exclusion was at the instance of the State government.

The Special Economic Zone (SEZ) notification for the plot of 131 acres, which had already been approved by the Board of Approval (BoA) of the Union Commerce Ministry, is expected within a fortnight from the day of signing the lease deed.

SEZ application for the remaining lot of land along with the SEZ Development Commissioner's approval will also be moved immediately. However, the notification was likely to take more time in this case as the application will first have to go before the BoA.

But this would not delay the project, as construction work could be launched on the 131 acres for which notification was expected soon.

With the term of the incumbent government set to expire shortly and the model code of conduct ahead of the election hardly a month away, construction in all probability would start as planned.

Source

Real Estate in Kochi ready to flourish

2011-02-18T04:49:00.000-08:00

Property developers in Kochi can look forward to brighter prospects with the International Container Transshipment Terminal at Vallarpadam being inaugurated and the hurdles cleared for the realisation of the SmartCity project.

The Rs.2,500-crore Cyber City project in the private sector will be another propellant of demand for commercial and housing property.

There has been a delay of four years in reaching the agreement on SmartCity, but the State's economy will turn upwards with the kind of development taking place, especially the Vallarpadam terminal, says Najeeb Zakaria, president, Kochi branch of Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Association of India.

The demand for housing will go up as according to rough estimates, at least 50 per cent of the people taking up the one lakh jobs directly and indirectly linked to SmartCity will require housing and half of this group are likely to make a buy, he says.

The rentals will improve considerably, which is considered one of the best indicators of vibrant commercial activity, Dr. Zakaria says. Commercial investment in housing will improve and every year, 5,000 housing units may become available.

The market has been in the revival mode for the past three to four months, says M.D. Jairaj, president of the Kerala Builders' Association. The signing of the SmartCity agreement did bring cheer in the market. There will be more takers for property now.

Source

Kochi Cyber City by HDIL to be launched today

2011-02-16T22:30:00.000-08:00

The HDIL Cyber City, a Rs.2,300-crore IT park project which will add to Kochi’s IT dreams, will be launched on Thursday by Industries Minister Elamaram Kareem.

The project is coming up in an area of 70 acres of land at the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Kalamassery. Blue Star Realtors Private Ltd, a subsidiary of the Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL) is the promoter of the project. The officials said 70 percent of the total built-up area was dedicated to IT infrastructure.

The project is designed to be completed in three phases. The first phase will cover the development of 2 million sq ft of IT space and it will be completed in three years. The HDIL Cyber City is expected to generate as many as 60,000 direct jobs and 1.5 lakh indirect jobs. The HDIL officials are consulting various IT firms to set up their establishments here.

Transport Minister Jose Thettayil will preside over the function, which will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday.

P Rajiv MP, MLAs A M Yousuf, V K Ibrahim Kunju, Additional Chief Secretary T Balakrishnan, Industrial Promotions Secretary Alkesh Kumar Sharma, SEZ Commissioner C J Mathew, KINFRA MD S Ramnath, Kalamassery municipal chairperson Jamal Manakkadan, vice-chairperson Aneeda Latheef and councillor Sulaikha Majeed will attend.

HDIL Cyber City

HDIL Cybercity. The Rs 4,000 crore project will be spread across an area of 70 acres and according to the promoters, it will be Keralas first integrated township housing besides IT offices, schools, residential apartments, shopping malls, multiplex, club house, service apartments and a star hotel.
The township would be divided into various zones keeping in mind the natural flow of spaces and the internal relationship of various sectors. He also added that the project would generate over Rs 425 crore of revenue for the Kerala government by way of stamp and registration duty and other taxes

Kochi Vallarpadam container terminal Corporate Videos

2011-02-16T01:53:00.000-08:00

ICTT Inauguration - Cochin Port - Video

ICTT Welcome -DP world

Tecom delegates postpone visit to Kerala

2011-02-15T06:59:00.000-08:00

TECOM delegates who were scheduled to reach Kerala today, to sign the lease agreement on the Smart City project at Kochi have postponed their visit. The visit was postponed due to the inconvenience of Tecom CEO Abdu Latif Al Mulla.

Tecom authorities informed that the date of their next visit will be informed later. The meeting is being held to discuss the outcome of talks held between the state Government and Tecom and will take measures to start the construction work at the earliest.

TECOM key to success of Smart City Kochi project

2011-02-11T22:12:00.000-08:00

Dubai has become part of Kerala's growth story with the International Container Transhipment Terminal (ICTT) going on stream and the Smart City project getting ready for take off. Dubai has already been indirectly contributing to the development of the state by providing jobs to 350,000 people. The remittances they send have been playing a big role in sustaining the state's economy.

But economists feel that the direct investment of Rs16 billion by DP World in the ICTT at Cochin port and an estimated investment of Rs20 billion by TECOM in the Smart City at Kakkanad may help the state to catch the industrialisation bus it has missed. The ICTT inaugurated by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Friday has already attracted investment worth billions in several sectors. The investment in support infrastructure like rail and road links, warehousing, container freight stations alone is worth more than Rs26 billion.

The Cochin Port Trust's project to link ICTT with the state's main trading centres of Aleppey, Kottayam, Quilon and Kannur through inland waterways is also expected to attract substantial investment in barging. The CPT has already set up Ro-Ro terminals at Bolgatty and Willingdon Islands.

The port-based special economic zone being developed at Vallarpadam as part of the ICTT is also expected to bring in investment worth Rs75 billion. The other port-related projects in various stages of implementation are the Rs30 billion LNG Terminal at Puthuvypeen, Rs7.5 billion each single buoy mooring project of Cochin Refineries Limited (CRL) and the Cochin-Kannur-Bangalore gas pipeline of Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) and Rs3 billion cruise terminal.

Apart from these port-related investments, the ICTT and the proposed Smart City project together have spurred huge investments in tourism, realty and services sectors. Curiously many of these projects are promoted by Non-Resident Indians. The Dubai-based Emkay Group headed by Yusuf Ali is investing about Rs18 billion in a mega shopping mall-multiplex-aviation tower and hotel complex at Edapally and a convention centre-cum-five star hotel at Vallarpadam.

The stalemate in the SmartCity project was ended by Yusuf Ali by bringing the governments of Kerala government and TECOM to the negotiating table. The agreement the two sides signed in Trivandrum in the last week of December is expected to help the state to become a major IT hub in the country.

Though Kerala was the first state in the country to promote electronics, the Kerala State Electronics Development Corporation set up in the early seventies as part of that effort failed to drive the state to the resultant Information Technology. As a result, Kerala continues to be left far behind its southern neighbours in software exports. According to the official data released by the federal government, Kerala's software exports during 2009-10 were just 1 per cent of the country's total exports. Even though the state has established a number of IT parks across the state, it has not been able to attract major global players or create sizeable jobs. The total employment created by various parks together is less than 50,000.

PM inaugurates Vallarpadam Container Terminal

2011-02-10T22:26:00.000-08:00

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh dedicated to the nation the Rs 3,200-crore International Container Transhipment Terminal (ICTT) at nearby Vallarpadam, a major expansion project of Cochin Port Trust. The rail and road projects were also inaugurated by the prime minister.

Governor R S Gavai, Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan, Defence Minister A K Antony, Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi, Union Ministers Prof K V Thomas, Dr C P Joshy, G K Vasan, Mukul Roy, E Ahamed, Mullappally Ramachandran, K C Venugopal, Kochi Port Trust chairman N Ramachandran took part in the inaugural function. Representatives from Dubai led by D P World chairman Sultan Ahamed bin Sulyaminray attended the function.
Dr Singh in his inaugural speech said the Vallarpadam terminal will develop the district. He opined that along with the project, the water transport should be given importance.

Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan, who spoke on the occasion, requested the PM to take personal interest in fulfilling the Kochi metro and Palakaad railway coach factory projects.

It will have a direct bearing on the country’s sea trade as a substantial portion of Indian container traffic presently gets transshipped through foreign ports like Colombo, Singapore and Dubai.

Since most Indian ports can handle only small ships, the mother ships would be anchored at big ports like Dubai, Singapore and Colombo and containers from India are transported to them using smaller feeder ships. Besides incurring an additional expense, this transshipment process also consumes more time.

The Vallarpadam ICTT by handling mother ships is expected to save costs by an average $ 300 per box and time of seven to ten days which would hugely benefit exports and imports.

The ICTT has been built by Dubai Ports World (DP World) on a build-operate-and-transfer (BOT) basis. DP World has invested Rs 1,600 crore in the project while the Union government, through the Cochin Port Trust, has invested an equal amount by way of bringing road and rail connectivity to the project.

CPT Chairman N Ramachandran said that according to the agreement between the CPT and DPW, the construction of the terminal, its equipment and operations would be the responsibility of DP World while providing the road and rail connectivity to the site and deepening of the shipping channels would be the CPT’s responsibility.

According to the agreement, the DPW will operate the terminal for a 30-year period after which the assets will come back to Kochi port. This apart, one-third of the gross revenue would go to the CPT and the rest to the DPW. The opening of the ICTT will increase the volume of foreign trade and exploit the cargo handling potential of Indian Railways and Konkan Railway as well as National Highways.

The terminal also opens up immense potential for allied industries like container freight stations, inland container depots, port-based SEZs, cargo through inland waterways, logistics and warehousing centres.