SmartCity to make available 61L sq ft built-up area from 2020
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The SmartCity Kochi will deliver 61 lakh sq feet built-up area (BUA) in phases from 2020. The decision was taken at the SmartCity Kochi board meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan which reviewed the current status of execution of co-developer projects in the IT Township. It also reviewed the status of contracts related to the remaining infrastructure work from phase I and their completion status.
“Based on the enhanced momentum of construction work in the past few months and their progress being monitored on a monthly basis, SmartCity Kochi should be delivering the target of 61 lakh sq ft BUA in phases from 2020,” said M M Sivasankar, IT Secretary and Director of Board. Sands Infra, with a total BUA of 37 lakh sq ft has achieved a progress rate of 43%, while Maratt Group which is developing a 4 lakh sq ft BUA, has achieved 20% progress.
The Cyber Green-1, the first of the two IT towers by Prestige Group, has commenced piling works on the site to deliver 5.39 lakh sq ft BUA of the total of 12 lakh sq ft BUA. The second tower of 6.21 lakh sq ft BUA will be launched in another four months, according to a company official. In the first building of SmartCity Kochi, with a BUA of 6.5 lakh sq ft which has been in operation since 2016, around 30 companies have signed up so far and the building occupancy has reached 85%. New facilities to serve the occupants of the buildings are under way as well. The board further reviewed the progress of the GEMS Modern Academy, a 3,500-student education campus, which is set to be commissioned in the next few weeks.
“With organisation restructuring and focus to create business opportunities for stakeholders, Dubai Holding is fully committed to ensuring the success of SmartCity Kochi. We are hopeful that with the existing positive working relationship with all stakeholders comprising our co-developers, tenants, and contractors, we should be able to further speed up the development of this integrated Township,” said Khalid Al Malik, vice-chairman of the Board and Chief Real Estate Officer at Dubai Holding.
The board also reviewed the status of work on power and water infrastructure at the meeting which is under way. “We are well on course to complete the 33kv power network and the water treatment plant to meet the demand that will be created in 2020. The progress is helped by the proactive support of state departments concerned,” said Manoj Nair, CEO of SmartCity Kochi.