Chief Minister V. S. Achuthanandan said here on Thursday that nothing remained to be done by the government for the Smart City project.
The Chief Minister contradicted the statement of the Dubai based promoters of the project, TECOM, that a portion of the land acquired for the project as free-hold was their right.
Mr. Achuthanandan also noted that TECOM had not started work on even a single building for project after promising to create 90000 jobs.
Asked about the delay in the appointment of a new political secretary to the Chief Minister to replace K. N. Balagopal who had been elected to the Rajya Sabha, the Chief Minister said that his silence in the matter would continue until a decision was taken. (The CPI (M) had proposed C. P. Narayanan for the post, but Chief Minister reportedly had reservations about his appointment.)
The Chief Minister said that the Cabinet had decided to provide 2.94 acres at Areacode in Malappuram district on lease to the Powergrid Corporation for setting up a power substation. The rent would be fixed at five per cent of the market value of land.
