Come to clean-green Kozhikode, Kerala tells IT companies in Bangalore

29th January 2015
Come to  clean-green Kozhikode, Kerala tells IT companies in Bangalore
Infosys Co-founder "Kris' Gopalakrishnan flanked by Kerala's IT Minister PK Kunhalikutty ( left) and Principal Secretary (IT), P H Kurian in Bangalore , January 29 at the promotion event for Kozhikode-based IT Parks

Bangalore, January  29, 2015:  After state capital Thiruvananthapuram and  port city Kochi, the Kerala government is aggressively promoting  the( north Kerala) Malabar region's biggest  city Kozhikode  as the next IT destination. 
In a promotional  event here today, the state's IT Minister  P K Kunhalikutty,  pointed to the clean-green attractions of two contiguous IT Parks on the outskirts of the city -- the government-operated Cyberpark  and the UL Cyberpark uniquely owned and run by a cooperative of contract labourers. ( see our separate story here).
With 68 acres of prime and fully developed land within 10 km from  historic city centres , global companies including UST Global, IBS, Ernst and Young among  others are actively considering starting a unit in  the twin parks, said P H Kurian, Principal Secretary, IT, of the Kerala government.
Cyberpark with a total area of 42 acres including  30 acres of notified Special Economic Zoone,  will be business ready  by December 2015, offering  1-3 acre plots for 90 year lease at most competitive rates, officials explained.
The Uralungal Labour Contract Co-operative Society's  UL Cyberpark  owns 26 acres of land within which  it has already  completed  4.8 Lakh ( 4,80,000)  Sq Ft of  built up space.   
“Kerala   now  houses two  of the most successful IT parks of the country, n Technopark,  in Thiruvananthapuram and Infopark, Kochi. The Cyberpark at Kozhikode is built on  similar lines", added Infosys co-founder  Kris Gopalakrishnan whose own company  has a presence in  Technopark.  He  said the 5000-strong  centre has emerged as one of the best  units of Infosys and complimented the state government for its  assistance and getting the unit up to speed very swiftly.
 “Kerala has caught the imagination of  technology companies  who are all  set to put Kozhikode on India’s IT map", added Minister Kunhalikutty, "The global connect business travel programmes s regularly conducted during the last 3 years with more than 60 IT SME companies taken to various destinations in Europe, Australia and Middle East has resulted in building capabilities and global business relationships in the SME segment. Companies from Kozhikode who participated through this programme in last GITEX in Dubai have  made strong business relationships.”
Cyberpark is  expected to employ 25,000 IT professionals when fully functional, said Mr Ajith Kumar R, Chief Executive Officer, Cyberpark, Kozhikode.  Officials pointed out that the location was less than 6 hours drive from Bangalore.
The leadership of Kerala's IT infrastructure  was present in full force at the event --- including, Technopark CEO  K G Girish Babu and  S Ramnath  Managing Director of the Kerala State IT Infrastructure Ltd which  is responsible for  the state-owned parks. Also on hand  to support the state's initiative, were   NASSCOM's Senior Director for Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puduchery K Purushothaman and   Kerala based  representative  Sujith Unni.