Smart City Kochi pavilion to open next month

Kochi, April 25 (IANS) A state-of-the-art sales pavilion, built as part of the much-awaited Smart City Kochi project, is all set to open next month, an official associated with the project said here Wednesday.

'Smart City Kochi is a commitment towards the state of Kerala and will set new benchmarks in creating and fostering an ecosystem for investment and growth,' said Jawad Suleiman, executive director, project development and planning of Smart City Dubai, the project implementing company.

According to Suleiman, the 10,090 sq ft pavilion will assist in marketing the project to national and international investors, and its opening comes at a time when the master plan of the project is expected to be completed by August.

'With the approval of the concept master plan, we are moving towards building the country's largest IT Park with world-class facilities in Kerala,' said Suleiman.

The proposed Rs.5,000 crore mega IT project, the ground breaking ceremony of which was held in October last year, will come up over an area of 250 acres. It is expected to provide jobs to 90,000 professionals.

As planned, the first phase of the project will be completed in 18-24 months.

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had first announced the Smart City Kochi project in 2004 when he was in office. However, since then it was hanging fire. Things have started moving again after Chandy re-assumed office in May last year.