THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Despite the Kerala government’s efforts to usher in a tech revolution, many IT companies are yet to get a space in Technopark, one of the state’s major IT hubs. Though the applications were filed a long while ago, red tape and the apathy of officials are keeping these companies on the wrong side of the door. Surprisingly, many of them are turned away citing space constraints.
As per official figures, Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram has nearly 400 companies waiting for a space, while Kochi’s Infopark has just under 100. The two are the major IT hubs in the state. As per Technopark’s website, which was last updated on February 6, a total of 153 IT companies are seeking space - ranging from 100 to 50,000 sqft - at Phase I alone. Among them is a company that applied as far back as July 21, 2016.
The demand for space is even higher in Phase III. Here, as many as 208 companies have filed an application for space between June 2016 and February 1, 2023. In Phase IV, there are 36 companies on the waiting list. They applied for space here between August 2019 and December 2022.
In addition to these, there are several startups seeking spaces in the incubation facilities inside the park, and a slew of non-IT institutions like restaurants, bookshops and laundry units. It is also learnt that 52 companies have surrendered their space in Technopark Phase 1 between 2021 and January 1, 2023.
“If there is no space, Technopark should set up prefab facilities for the time being. If it continues to show apathy, then it would affect the very existence of the park,” said a co-founder of a company that’s still waiting for a space at the park.
“It is true that there is no space here,” said V Sreekumar, the secretary of GTech, a collective of IT companies in Kerala. “Though there are some unoccupied spaces in Technopark’s Phase I, legal issues with these spaces render them unavailable to all,” he added. Sreekumar also pointed out that while the first phase of the private co-developer Taurus will begin soon, other private IT spaces and government spaces are likely to take even longer. He called on the government to intervene and resolve the legal issues that prevent Phase I spaces from being allotted. Technopark gets at least one inquiry per day regarding availability of space on its premises.
For Sanjeev Nair, who recently joined as the CEO of Technopark, the first priority is to resolve the crisis of spaces. “For space allocation, Technopark follows a well-defined space allotment process, which is part of existing policy guidelines. We maintain a space request queue system that ensures transparency in space allocation. Presently, we have a supply vs demand gap. Addressing the same is our primary focus,” Sanjeev told TNIE.