The Kerala Chief Minister, Mr V S Achuthanandan, today laid the foundation stone for the first IT, BPO complex in Info Park Phase II. He also unveiled the master plan for the project at the function.

Addressing the function over telephone, which was relayed to the gathering over loudspeakers, the Chief Minister said that the State has made big strides in the IT sector in the recent past. The State Government has taken serious efforts in the last 57 months to turn the Info Park into an IT hub in the State. He pointed out that Info Park grew 30 per cent when Indian IT exports grew at an average of five per cent during 2009-10.

The second phase of Info Park Kochi is planned to be developed in 160 acres of land at the Kunnathunadu and Puthencuruz villages. With the phase II, this growth will be fuelled by capitalising the advantages that Kerala has to offer with its robust infrastructure and connectivity.

Green IT township

The domestic park in this new phase is aimed at creating cost-effective infrastructure for the BPO industry. The State Government has allocated Rs 50 crores towards infrastructure development schemes for the phase II of Info Park. The master plan undertaken by Cannon design USA envisages a green IT township on the banks of the Kadamprayar River. It will have all modern facilities including shopping arcades, town centre plaza, convention centre, women's hostel, guest house, facilities for rest and recreation, and boat club.

The Union Government has granted formal approval for approx 31 acres of Info Park Kochi Phase II for setting up of a sector specific IT/ITeS SEZ.

Like past projects, the park will act as a single point developer of basic infrastructure facilities such as substation, power distribution, internal road system, water intake, treatment and storage, data and communication connectivity, land development, compound wall, guest house, and common food courts. On completion, the park will be able to provide employment to up to 85,000 professionals, said Mr Binu A Pazhoor, CEO, Info Park .

The Info Park in the last two years has been growing fast and is already home to over 13,500 IT professionals working in several world class companies. Spokes of Kochi Info Park in Koratty, Cherthala and Ambalapuzha were inaugurated along with ramp up of co-developer projects including L&T, Leela Group and Brigade.

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