Agreement on nine points

Both parties agree to abide by the SEZ rules of the Union government

Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan with the member of the supreme committee for Dubai World Group and Dubai Holding Group, UAE, Ahmed Humaid Al Tayer, Group CEO, TECOM Abdul Latif Al Mulla, Registration Minister S. Sarma and Mediator and NRI businessman M.A.Yusuf Ali. Photo: C. Ratheesh Kumar

The crucial discussion between Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan and a delegation from the Dubai government, led by Ahmed Humaid Al Tayer, member of the Supreme Committee for Dubai World Group and Dubai Holding Group, on Wednesday agreed on nine basic points leading to a breakthrough in the proposed SmartCity Kochi project.

The most significant among them is the agreement reached by both parties to abide by the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) rules of the Union government which clearly state that freehold land within a SEZ cannot be sold. To further cement the point, on which the State government has been insistent all along, it is agreed that the land being converted as freehold under the original framework agreement “shall not be alienable.” To put it simply: the freehold land cannot be sold.

The dispute over freehold rights over 12 per cent land to the promoters has been holding up the project for the last two years.

The meeting further agreed that of the 246 acres, 12 per cent (29.5 acres) will be converted from leasehold to freehold as and when Tecom, the promoters of the project, completes the master plan. This, sources said, is in compliance with the clause mentioned in the original framework agreement, which both parties have agreed to abide by in the execution of the project.

On its part, Tecom will complete the master plan and present it before the director board within 30 days. The freehold rights will come into effect once the board approves the master plan.

The State government will take steps to transfer possession of the entire 246 acres on leasehold rights to SmartCity Kochi Infrastructure Private Limited within a week. The government will ensure that the registration of land is done within a week with registration and stamp duty exemption.

Tecom will develop the entire 246 acres in its possession as an Information Technology and IT-Enabled Services sector-specific SEZ.

The discussion reached an agreement to strive jointly to get SEZ approval from the board of directors of the SEZ under the Union Ministry of Commerce at the earliest. Significantly, nothing other than the time taken to receive the SEZ status should delay the project any further.