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Adith Charlie
Priya Nair

Mumbai, Sept. 5

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, Nabard, is considering a loan of around Rs 50 crore to the Kerala State government to support IT and e-knowledge initiatives. This loan, under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF), will be utilised for expanding Infopark, the Kochi-based IT infrastructure development programme promoted by the Govt of Kerala.

If sanctioned, this would be the first time that Nabard is extending support for an IT project, according to an official from the development institution.

Mr Bhawar Puri, Chief General Manager, Kerala Regional Office, Nabard, said, “We are considering the loan and a decision is likely by the end of this month. Under the RIDF 13, for 2007-08, the total outlay for Kerala is Rs 350 crore. As this facility is classified as infrastructure for information technology in rural areas, we can consider the loan though it is for an IT project."

Confirming the development, a Kerala state official said: “The Kerala State IT mission will use these investments to set up a 4,00,000 sq ft campus, as an extension of Kochi Infopark, to focus exclusively on incubating small and medium sized companies.

The government has already acquired land for the project and it is expected to be ready within two years.

About 50 start up small and medium sized software and allied services firms are expected to use the new block. The total turnover of these companies is likely to be around Rs 100 crore, Mr Puri said. Around 4,000-5,000 direct jobs would be created as a result of this initiative.

Nabard is also considering an additional investment of Rs 4.6 crore to further the Kerala Government’s Akshaya project. Akshaya is the flagship information and communication technology development project by the Kerala State IT Mission. Under the Akshaya plan, Akshaya kiosks is another service that helps in dissemination of information in areas such as health, agriculture, career, education, laws and regulations.

“Nabard’s investment will help the State increase the number of ‘Akshaya’ kiosks to 3,180 in the next two years from 1,800 kiosks currently. This means that every village of Kerala will have 2-3 kiosks,” said the official.

More Stories on : Infrastructure | Rural Development | Agricultural Institutions

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