Kerala State Housing Board is readying itself to take on competition from big players in the real-estate sector, thanks to the passage of an Act in 2012 that amended the original Kerala State Housing Board Act of 1971.

This will enable it to expand its footprint from the economically weaker sections and other low-income groups to service the middle-income and high-income groups as well as the commercial real-estate sector, Chairman Arackal Balakrishna Pillai said.

Insertion of Section 36A into the original Act has empowered it to undertake housing or improvement schemes through joint ventures or public-private partnerships (PPPs).

A venture or PPP for purposes of this section means participation of the Board with a private person or company procured through a transparent and open procurement system for executing any housing or improvement scheme including commercial complexes, shopping malls, etc.

This is part of the approved package for the revival of the Board, it has since been clarified, Pillai said.

Kerala State Housing Board Act, 1971, did not have provisions to enable the Board to undertake housing and improvement schemes through joint ventures or public-private partnerships.

HUGE INVESTMENT

This prompted the Government decision to insert the new section in the Act. The Board would join select few counterparts from other States to make the grade, he added. And it proposes to make a bang, announcing a massive project in Ernakulam.

Pillai said the Board would invest Rs 1,800 crore to set up a full-fledged financial city over prime land it owns along the Marine Drive overlooking the Kochi backwaters.

It has invited proposals along with technical and financial bid from internationally reputed techno-commercial-cum-legal consultants for commercially exploiting and developing 17.9 acres at Marine Drive as a finance city under PPPs/ventures by forming a special purpose vehicle.

Called KOFCITY, the project is expected to help generate economic activities in the State and create valuable infrastructure for the Board, the RFP (request for proposal) document stated. The project involves developing a financial hub for the State along with a residential district.

OTHER PROJECTS

This apart, the Board is setting up a series of Revenue Towers, which house various offices of Government departments, in major centres with latest ones coming up in Kattapana and Haripad. The proposed City Centre coming up in Thodupuzha at a cost Rs 38 crore is the most prestigious among these. Including land, this makes for an investment of Rs 88 crore, Pillai said.

Kowdiar Heights, a premium 36-apartment project in the heart of Thiruvananthapuram, is another major initiative from the Board. Twenty-one apartments have already sold out.

The other major project is Haritham Apartments coming up in Ernakulam and adhering to green building concepts. This could be pioneering venture of this kind in the public sector, Board Secretary S. Gopalakrishnan said.

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