Kochi: The Infopark in Kerala’s commercial capital Kochi is reeling under space shortage. The park cannot spare either land or even a building for new companies. Meanwhile, investors who have already booked office space at the IT hub in Kochi have to wait at least two-and-a-half years for a new building to open. There are 120 such companies in the queue, said authorities.
Several leading companies functioning in other Indian states have abandoned plans for expansion into Kerala after realizing that ‘A-grade’ built-up space was not available in Kochi.
Curiously, Infopark is facing an acute space crunch even as 36 acres of land lies disused adjacent to it. This plot is part of Infopark Phase 2 but has been set apart for building the headquarters of the K-Rail project mooted by the state government. Stakeholders in the IT sector feel that the government should allot a portion of this 36-acre plot for Infopark development. Another option is to acquire fresh land for Infopark Phase 3.
It is pointed out that while Infopark is still to expand beyond Phase 2, Technopark, the IT hub in Thiruvananthapuram, is building Phase 4 (Technocity).
Meanwhile, discussions are being held to take over some space remaining in Lulu Tower in Infopark for a noted multinational corporation. Currently, 560 companies function at Infopark and they employ around 70,000 professionals. While all floors at the World Trade Centre are occupied, IBM has a staff count of 1,000.
The latest investments at Infopark are a new building by Geojit for its use and the acquisition of nine acres of land by UST Global for constructing a company campus.
Meanwhile, a delay in announcing the IT policy by the state government has affected the growth of the sector in Kerala. Even though the draft policy was framed several months ago, the final document is yet to be approved by the Cabinet. Development such as private IT parks would take place only after the policy comes into effect, said experts.