Technopark: Riding smoothly into the future

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:  It is a shot in the arm for Technopark’s expansion plans. The decision by the cabinet to give approval for land conversion in Attipra village which houses Technopark Phase 3 would pave way for speedier completion of projects. The 100-acre campus, located between phase 1 and 2, is where major developmental activities are going to take place immediately. The primarily agricultural land acquired almost 10 years ago had given much headache to investors keen on building office infrastructure. Some of the projects took more than the desired amount of time due to the issues with the land.

The exemption is being effected through Section 10 of the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017. “The approval will help in the faster execution of projects that have been committed and in turn attract more investors.” said CEO of IT Parks Kerala, Hrishikesh Nair. One of the main beneficiaries of the land exemption will be Boston-based Taurus Investment Holdings which has committed over Rs 2,000 crore for developing real estate in Phase 3. Besides Taurus, there are other major investors interested in co-developing the land. 

Taurus has 20 acres of land for developing the Rs 1,300 crore Downtown project and Rs 850-crore Embassy Taurus World Technology Centre project. These two projects are coming up on two separate land parcels (of 10 acre each) on either side of Ganga and Yamuna buildings in phase 3.A small portion (19 cents) of the Special Economic Zone which the investor wanted to lease was coming under the agriculture land. Lack of clarity had delayed the project conceived during 2012.

“The government order would help the investor to sign the lease agreement which is likely to happen by the end of this month.” said a source close to the project. According to him, the company would lease 2 acres more for the Downtown project. Embassy Taurus World Technology Centre project involves the development of 10 acres of Special Economic Zone for creating 2.3 million square feet of office space. There will be an additional construction of 1.2 million square feet to provide parking facilities for 4,000 cars.

The 1st Phase of office development comprises of 1.4 mn sq feet office space, and is expected to be completed within 24- 30 months. The land parcel will be leased from Technopark for a period of 90 years, with an additional renewal option of another 90 years. The second phase will be launched subsequently based on the leasing velocity, with an estimated total completion period of 60 months.
 Downtown project is a mixed-use real estate project with office space, malls, hotels etc. The projects involve creation of office space for 25,000 employees. 
 

Technocity progressing rapidly 
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told the Assembly on Thursday that the development works of Technocity  (fourth stage of Technopark) was progressing at a fast pace. Land has been allotted to five companies such as Infosys, TCS, Suntec, IITMK and KASE. The construction of the 2 lakh square feet building at Technocity will be completed by April,  2019. He also said that 100 acres has been earmarked for Knowledge City in Technopark. He said that TCS, IITMK, CASE, Suntec and Infosys have envisaged interest in starting their campus in Technocity. The Chief Minister also mentioned that it would take ten years to complete the Technocity project in 424 acres of land