The Hindu Business Line : Good catch

While neighbouring States such as Karnataka and Tamil Nadu marched ahead, Kerala struggled to attract investment. Stories of trade union militancy scared industries away.

So when information technology was booming a few hundred kilometres away, Kerala was in the throes of rising unemployment.

But now, things are a changing across the board, and particularly in IT. From a mere onlooker, Kerala has not only made its presence felt, but is today also looked upon as an emerging hub for technology firms.

The big three - TCS, Infosys and Wipro - have already set up shop in the State and are planning to expand quickly. Local companies such as IBS too are growing rapidly.

Existing infrastructure facilities such as the Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram and Infopark in Kochi are in the process of acquiring more land to meet the increasing demand for space.

And now Kerala is on the verge of pulling off its biggest investment in IT: the Smart City project.

The Smart City, a complete, self-sufficient facility for IT and BPO companies, will be developed by Dubai Internet City (DIC), the largest IT infrastructure provider in West Asia.On April 28, the Kerala Government and officials of the Dubai Internet City reached an in-principle agreement to set up the Smart City in Kochi. An investment of Rs 1,500 crore is being envisaged to build this world-class facility that will come up on 389 acres of land in the outskirts of the city.

It is after months of speculation and uncertainty that DIC and the Kerala Government have reached this pact. The bone of contention in the earlier discussions was the free land that the Government was supposed to hand over to DIC to develop the facility.

In the meantime, other South Indian States also reportedly wooed DIC to their soil.

But the Kerala Government, which had earlier suffered setbacks in attracting Nokia, did not want to let this opportunity go. In the last round of discussions, it was agreed that 100 acres of land would be given free of cost to develop the Smart City in lieu of the 33,000 jobs it will create. DIC will have to buy the rest of the land, it is learned.

More details on the project are not available now, but media reports suggest that Infopark, the existing IT park in Kochi, would be given to DIC. The State Government would get an equity stake in the venture for the value of this facility.

More areas of land have been identified in and around Kochi. It is envisaged that Smart City will eventually be a 1,000 acre-facility, giving direct employment to over a lakh people.

The DIC, which will be setting up the facility and marketing it to international companies, has the who's who of the world's technology firms in Dubai. Firms such as Microsoft, Oracle, HP, IBM, Dell, Siemens, Cisco and Canon have chosen DIC. Over 5,500 people work in the DIC in areas spanning software development to education, training to back office operations. Kerala government officials say that with such a clientele, DIC will be able to successfully market the Smart City.

The State is expected to sign the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the DIC this month. What it now needs to do is to guarantee that the project does not get mired in controversies and gets going as planned.

vipin@thehindu.co.in

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