Kerala Govt to form 'Infrastructure Company' for IT sector

Kochi, Mar 15 (UNI) Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan today said his government will form an 'Infrastructure Company' to build basic facilities for IT and related sectors.

Addressing a gathering after inaugurating the first project of L and T Tech Park, 'Tejomaya', and launching the work for its proposed phase II project, 'Signature Tower', at Infopark near here, Mr Achuthanandan said '' the state would witness an unprecedented growth in the IT sector with the formation of the company, which will raise funds through equities.'' He said the government with a plan to start IT parks in all 14 districts of the state, had started preliminary work to establish such parks in Alappuzha, Palakkad and Kozhikode districts.

He said the road-blocks for the Vallarpadam project had been removed and an agreement had also been signed for the LNG project here.

Speaking on the occasion, L&T Board Member K V Rangaswami said ''the phase one of the project had attracted an investment of Rs 100 crore while in the second phase, another Rs 180 crore will be invested.'' He said the state was a favourite IT destination with high density of talent pool, strong communication network and support from the government.

With a total built up area of 1.1 million sq.ft coming up in two phases and spread across 7.5 acres, L&T Tech Park is set to catalyze the IT boom in the city by providing world-class work-space for companies having Tier-2 City expansion plans.

'Tejomaya' is ready for occupation and offers column free space with larger floor plates, high-end security systems and infrastructure facilities for continuous IT/ITES operations.

The interiors and exteriors of the building are designed for a congenial working environment in modern style.

IT majors like TCS, IBS, Arbitron Inc. and L&T Infotech have already booked space in Tejomaya and over 3500 technocrats would be expected to be working out of the facility.

'Signature Tower', to be completed by 2009, envisages the development of the 21-storey twin-tower of 6.75 Lakh sq. ft area.

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