Tecom makes fresh demand

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: While the government is making an earnest attempt for forging an agreement with Tecom for implementing the SmartCity project, the company has raised a fresh demand for freehold on 30 acres of land with sale rights outside the Special Economic Zone (SEZ), Minister for Fisheries and Registration S. Sarma has said.

In an article released here on Thursday, the Minister said the framework agreement signed between the government and Tecom specified that 246 acres of land was to be leased out to the company and it was to be treated as SEZ.

The SEZ norms do not permit sale of land too. It was in this context that the company had raised the fresh demand to include the right for freehold on 12 per cent of land with sale right in the lease deed.