JB Group’s Rs 1,500-cr IT project for Kochi
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It’s a “head I win - tail I win” toss for Kochi. Enter $1.7-billion JB Group from Hong Kong to Kerala this week with a Rs 1,500-crore IT project, giving a dicey twist to Dubai Tecom drama dragging over $300-SmartCity in Kochi.JB Group has offered an IT city in Kochi on par with the Giga Space, that JB has set up in Pune. Against Dubai Tecom’s project offering 90,000 jobs in 10 years, the new entrants have offered one lakh jobs “within 36 months of signing the pact.”Total constructed area of the proposed project would be about seven million square feet.
Out of that five million square feet would be used for setting up enterprises engaged in IT and IT-Enabled Services (ITES) sectors.
The remaining two million square feet would be utilised for setting up other amenities like residential facilities, hotels and environment-friendly projects. The project would have own sewage treatment facilities and captive power generation facilities.
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JB group's proposal is really mouthwatering.
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But it's not necessarily exit Dubai-Tecom and its SmartCity project or vice versa, assures Gautam Kanjilal.
"We are not bargain-hunters," says Kartik Somaiah, Key Account Manager (Asia Pacific). Unlike in the Tecom case, even without bargaining, the new entrants have offered the state government 26% equity.
It was the study by ICICI properties identifying Kochi as the second top destination in high-end IT business that put JB Group on Kochi trail. "We'd been watching Kerala from 2001 and feel time is ripe to make our bid," says Kanjilal.``Ours is demand-driven project proposal and we would not be averse to the idea of setting up the IT Park in another area provided there was demand for a second project.''
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The naysayers of smart city have been proved wrong.