resident Pranab Mukherjee will inaugurate UL CyberPark, the first IT park to be set up by a labour cooperative society, Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society (ULCCS), at a function at Nellikode here on Saturday.
The Rs. 270-crore IT park is expected to provide direct employment to 4,500 people in the first phase and indirect employment to 20,000. Six IT companies, including multinational firms (MNCs) and local software units, have already received the approval of the Special Economic Zone authority to begin operations at UL CyberPark. Many other firms have evinced interest in the IT park, Minister for Industries and Information Technology P.K. Kunhalikutty and ULCCS president Ramesan Paleri told a news conference here on Tuesday.
The inauguration also marks a golden chapter in the 90-year history of ULCCS, which has now diversified business interests, including construction and housing sector. Its own IT firm, UL Technology Solutions (ULTS), now provides IT solutions in the domain areas of Global Information Systems, Health Care, Enterprise Resource Planning, Business Intelligence and Analytics, to clients mainly in the country and West Asia. It also has plans to expand its operations to the U.S. and Europe this year.
UL Cyber Park Chief Operating Officer S. Arun said the 4.82 lakh sq ft 10-storey building was built in compliance with LEED Gold standards for green buildings. The IT park would provide a perfect ecosystem for innovation and excellence.
Mr. Ramesan said the former Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan had launched the UL CyberPark project and Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had laid the foundation for the software development building in January 2012. It had total space of 30 lakh sq ft in the 10-storey building. The IT park is expected to provide employment directly to 20,000 and 80,000 indirectly when the second phase is completed. The total project cost is Rs. 600 crore, he said.
Mr. Kunhalikutty said Kozhikode would emerge as the third IT hub in the State with the launch of the government Cyberpark located near the UL CyberPark on the Kozhikode Bypass.
The project is expected to provide direct employment to 4,500 people in the first phase.
