Works for developing proposed IT Parks at Eramam-Kuttoor in Kannur and Cheemeni in Kasaragod are expected to start soon as National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD) has approved loans for the two projects along with the proposed IT Park in Kozhikode are being set up by Cyberpark, a State government organisation modelled on Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram and Infopark in Kochi for promotion of investments in IT and ITES sectors in the Malabar region.
According to officials of the Cyberpark, the proposed IT Parks projects at Eramam-Kuttoor and Cheemeni are in the stage of execution as the process of securing allocated loan from NABARAD is in the final phase. They told The Hindu on Wednesday that NABARD had already allocated Rs. 21.4 crore by way of loan for setting up the IT Park on a 10.37 hectare land at Eramam Kuttoor. The loan was expected to be sanctioned soon with the completion of some paper works, they said.
NABARD had already sanctioned Rs. 21.4 crore for the IT Park project coming up on a 40.40 ha land at Cheemeni, they said adding that steps were now under way by Cyberpark to avail itself of the loan amount.
The loan for the IT Park in Kannur was expected to be sanctioned by next week, they added.
The works for the two IT Park projects would be tendered after the draft master plans of the parks being developed in Kannur and Kasaragod were finalised. The projects envisage development of IT Park startups of 1.5 lakh sq. ft. each with state-of-the-art infrastructure facilities to attract major players in the IT and ITES industry to establish their business in the two facilities. The two IT Parks have been granted Special Economic Zones (SEZ) status.
The land at Cheemeni has been transferred by the government from the public sector Plantation Corporation of Kerala. A senior retired Revenue official who has been posted to the Cyberpark for expediting the acquisition process said that minor issues relating to survey numbers of the Cheemeni land had been settled. The land had been transferred through negotiated purchase of land under the fast track process.
He said that the major handicap of the surplus land transferred by the government for developing the IT Park at Eramam-Kuttoor had been the absence of an access to the land. The only access to the land being a plot assigned to an individual, the issue was now settled by offering the person another nearby land in exchange for the plot, he said adding that the offer was now awaiting the government’s consent.
The Cyberpark officials said that the process of securing NABARD loan for the IT Project in Kozhikode was under way. The park would be set up as an SEZ on a 28 ha land in Nellikkod and Pantheerankavu villages in Kozhikode, they said.
