Infopark expansion picks up steam

KOCHI: The second phase expansion of Infopark has gathered momentum with 115 acres out of the 165 acres of land identified for the project being already acquired. Only those stretches of land that are bogged down in court cases remain to be acquired now. The presentation for selecting the master plan consultants for the second phase would be held in the third week of this month, Infopark sources said. The selected consultant would then be placed before the board for approval. The project had received a boost last month when the Board of Approvals of the Union Ministry of Commerce granted Special Economic Zone status to 31 acres of land earmarked for the expansion.



Fresh applications could be filed in the future to secure SEZ status for more contiguous lying areas. The park to be developed in the second phase would offer the first plug-and-play BPO facility in the State. It is aimed at creating cost-effective infrastructure for the BPO industry.



Besides domestic parks, it would house SEZs for IT and ITES. When fully completed it would generate about 80,000 jobs in the IT and ITES in addition to the large number of jobs in the service sector.



Meanwhile, Athulya, the recently opened 5.5 lakh sq.ft-building complex of Infopark, has evoked interest in the industry. Not less than 14 companies had already taken up space in the new building. Internal designing of the many of the allotted spaces was under way, sources said.