COIMBATORE: Chief Minister MK Stalin inaugurated ELCOT IT Park at Vilankurichi in the district on Tuesday. The 2.94 lakh sqft six-storey IT park, constructed at a cost of Rs 158.32 crore, is expected to generate 3,500 jobs.
The building has two basements for parking, and has office space on the ground floor. It also has eight lifts, facilities for fire fighting, telecommunication, rainwater harvesting, 30,000-litre capacity diesel storage tank that could help operate generator for 72 hours, an underground water tank with the capacity to store 6 lakh litres, an overhead water tank of 1.35 lakh litre capacity, and 130 kilo litres per day (KLD) sewage treatment plant.
After inaugurating the building, the CM handed over lease allotment orders to several information technology companies at the event.
In his welcome address, Minister of Information Technology PTR Palanivel Thiaga Rajan said, “Though the IT Park was announced in 2020, the work had been stalled due to several irregularities. The work progressed after the government addressed those issues. The park will help 3,500 people get jobs.” Citing the space requirement for IT offices in Coimbatore, he appealed to the CM to accord permission for constructing additional buildings for IT parks on the premises.
Managing Director of ELCOT R Kannan said the department has plans to construct two more buildings in the remaining 17.17 acres of land at a cost Rs 2,000 crore, including Rs 240 crore land cost. “If the project gets government sanction, the work will be started. Once it is completed, as many as 35,000 people could be given employment. In the new ELCOT building, seven IT companies were handed over allotment orders during the event. Under the co-working system, allotment would be given to startup IT companies,” he said.
Municipal Administration Minister KN Nehru, PWD Minister EV Velu, Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji and Industries Minister TRB Rajaa participated in the event.
Stalin’s convoy took almost an hour to reach the venue, which is just 4 km from Coimbatore International Airport, as hundreds of DMK cadre lined up along the route to offer a warm welcome to him.