IT parks at Cheemeni, Eramam by next year

Notwithstanding the concerns about the feasibility of the proposed Information Technology parks by the Cyberpark in the interior locations of Kannur and Kasaragod districts, the two projects will be a reality by November next year.

Eramam in Kannur and Cheemeni in Kasaragod will soon be on the IT map of the State. The work on the industrial parks for start-ups in IT and IT-enabled Services (ITeS) started this month. Though the stone for the projects were laid in 2011, the commencement of the work got delayed owing to various factors. There were reservations about the feasibility of developing the IT parks in remote rural locations.

Confidence

Officials of the Cyberpark, a State government organisation modelled on the Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram and the Infopark in Kochi to promote IT investments in Malabar, exude confidence that the facilities will attract small and medium entrepreneurs (SMEs) in the IT/ITeS sector.

The two projects coming up are scaled-down version of the original project.

According to the original plan, the IT parks would have a built area of 1.5 lakh sq ft each.

It is hoped that the SMEs in the IT/ITES sector will find the facilities attractive enough because they will be less expensive than those in urban areas.

Cyberpark general manager P.A. Tomichan told The Hindu that the first phase of the projects now under way envisages buildings with 50,000 sq ft each with state-of-the-art infrastructure including roads and connectivity.

Marketing initiatives have been under way to attract IT and ITeS start-ups to the facilities.

The projects are started with the financial aid of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), which has approved loans of Rs.20 crore each for the twin projects.

The work has been awarded to two companies, for separate civil work and steel structure work.

The projects will be ready for commissioning by November next year, according to Cyberpark officials.

Land transfer

At Cheemani, the government has transferred 100 acres of land of the Plantation Corporation of Kerala to the Cyberpark.

As the park at Eramam is being set up on a 26-acre plot transferred by the government, the officials said that moves are being made to get more land there for future development of the proposed park.