According to reports, though not confirmed, Dubai Internet City, the promoters of the Smart City project, has threatened to withdraw from the project if the new government changes any of the terms and conditions of the contract.
Even a regional television channel recently aired a news saying that DIC is negotiating with the government of Andhra Pradesh for shifting the project to Hyderabad.
But some political analysts said that it could only be a strategy of DIC to ensure that there would not be a change in the draft agreement and it has too many advantages in Kochi such as extra bandwidth to back out from the project.
After a pretty long discussions, the Kerala government and DIC had signed an MoU for the project in September 2005 and decided to ink the contract within three months. But, to the dismay of IT mandarins and the chief minister, it was postponed several times.
At last, March 10 was fixed as the date for signing the contract. But, as elections to the state Assembly were announced by then, the election commission refused permission to sign the contract.
The Left Democratic Front had vehemently opposed the project at each stage of the discussions and opposition leader V S Achuthanandan argued that it was only a real estate deal as the agreement would mean transfer of around 400 acres of land in the vicinity of Kochi to DIC at a very nominal price.
LDF organised protest marches against the project and even announced that it would scrutinise the terms and conditions of the project and cancel it if found to be detrimental to the interests of the state if it came to power.
As there are strong predictions of a CPI (M)-led front coming to power in the state, the Smart City project dream may be shattered. As DIC strongly opposes any changes in the terms and conditions of the already drafted contract, a majority of people believe that Kerala would ultimately lose the project.
As per the MoU of the project, the Kerala government will hand over around 98 acres of land and two large buildings of Info Park at Kakkanad near Kochi on a 99-year lease to DIC.
It will also provide 250-300 acres of additional land in the vicinity of Infopark for the expansion of the project. DIC wants to develop the project as one of the largest IT infrastructure projects of Asia to house almost all major IT companies of the world.
As per the MoU, 33,000 IT professionals will get employment through the project and the Kerala government will have 9 per cent stake in the newly-formed company for the implementation of the project.
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