Hill International chosen for SmartCity Kochi

Dubai, Aug 6: Hill International, a top US firm has been awarded a contract worth Rs 37.3 crore by SmartCity (Kochi) Infrastructure Private Ltd, a joint venture with Dubai Internet City, to provide project management services for its development.

The two-and-a-half year contract has an estimated value of about 9.1 million dollars to Hill. SmartCity Kochi, a technology epicentre, will be built on about 300 acres of land and developed as a Special Economic Zone, and is expected to become one of India's largest business parks.

''We are very excited to be entering the Indian market with such an important project,'' Hill's Project Management Group (International) President Raouf S Ghali said, adding that SmartCity Kochi will be a state-of-the-art business community.

Another important feature of the project is the development of a sustainable township based on the US Green Building Council LEED standard. The first phase of SmartCity Kochi is expected to cost nearly Rs 1500 crore, that is 350 million dollars, Hill said in a release.

Hill International, with 1,900 employees in 70 offices worldwide, provides programme management, project management, construction management, development management and construction claims services.

Engineering News-Record magazine recently ranked Hill as the 10th largest construction management firm in the United States.

UNI