Infopark and Technology Innovation Zone, two flagship Information Technology installations in the city, figured prominently in the State Budget presented by Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac on Friday.
Infopark, which is making fast progress in the development of its second phase in association with its co-developers, has been allocated Rs.61 crore.
Infopark’s spoke at Koratty is also set to get a share of Rs.58 crore set aside for the development of smaller IT parks.
The budget envisages 3.40 lakh sq.ft. of built-up space at an estimated cost of Rs.225 crore at the Technology Innovation Zone (TIZ) at Kalamassery. In addition, another Rs.60 crore has been allocated towards this year’s capital expenditure.
Helping entrepreneurs
Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) CEO Jayasankar Prasad C said the budget helped keep the momentum going for TIZ.
“The highlight of the budget is the proposed assistance of Rs.2 lakh for 1,500 selected ideas, which would help young entrepreneurs. . The proposed allocation of collateral security-free loan to the tune of Rs.1 crore to those shortlisted is equally significant,” Mr. Prasad said. TIZ now has a total built-up space of 85,000 sq.ft., including the biotech incubator spread over 35,000 sq.ft., electronics incubator on 25,000 sq.ft., and the incubation space of 10,000 sq.ft. previously allotted to the Startup Village and was taken back by KSUM this January.
Though there was no mention of SmartCity Kochi in the budget, its interim CEO Baju George hailed the budget stating that the proposal to spend Rs.1,325 crore on the development of IT parks and attract Rs.1 lakh crore investments in two years would give a boost to the IT industry.
