Dubai Internet City to sign Smart City deal with new Kerala Gov

Dubai, Apr 30 (UNI) Dubai Internet City (DIC) will sign the controversial Smart City agreement with Kerala within four weeks of the formation of government after the elections, a highly placed official has said.

Ahmad Bin Byat, Director General of Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone Authority (TECOM), which controls DIC, said it is going to do it for the people of Kerala.

''Within the next four weeks we will sign the agreement even if there is a change in the ruling party,'' The Gulf Today quoted him as saying.

Smart City at Kochi in Kerala, is a Rs 15 billion IT cluster development modelled on the Dubai Internet City.

The opposition parties had made the deal an election issue and termed it a ''fraudulent real estate deal''.

Asked if DIC would go ahead with the signing of the agreement in view of the protests and allegations by the Left parties, Mr Byat said ''We are friends of both the governments (whether it is LDF or UDF).

''They (the Left) will say yes. I am very confident, because this project is for the people of Kerala and not for any government. We are very positive and within the next four weeks we will sign it.'' However, Mr Byat indicated that DIC is exploring other options of joining hands with other state governments like Tamil Nadu or Andhra Pradesh. ''We have two-three options,'' he said without giving more details.

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