Kerala to encourage private sector IT parks, special promotion scheme likely

The government of Kerala is likely to announce a Private IT Park Promotion Scheme to encourage the entry of private players in establishing new information technology parks in the State. The State will also see land pooling as a preferred model to find space for its upcoming IT parks.

All three existing IT Parks in Kerala - the Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram, Infopark in Kochi and Cyberpark in Kozhikode – are established by the state government and not the private sector.

In an interaction with Fortune India on the sidelines of Kerala Startup Mission’s flagship event Huddle Global in Thiruvananthapuram, Seeram Sambasiva Rao, Special Secretary (Electronics & IT), Kerala said the existing IT parks have run out of space and newer parks, including private ones, are needed to meet the demand for opening new units by technology companies, Global Capability Centres (GCCs) and startups.

“The government alone cannot do this job. Our IT Parks are not sufficient to meet the demand and the possibilities which are there in the sector. So we decided to facilitate private IT Parks and are coming out with a Private IT Park Promotion Scheme. The decision related to that has already been taken at some form or other. We are expecting it to be approved soon”, Rao said.

Recently, the State government had increased the FAR (floor area ratio) for buildings in tech-parks and hubs to make infrastructure development more attractive for private players. “The floor space index (FSI) has been increased to 7, which is the highest for tech sector infrastructure in the country. Since land is limited here, we want to promote vertical growth. And this is triggering interest among private IT sector, private IT park promoters”, Rao explained.   

He also pointed out that the government has a clear strategy in place to attract companies in the State’s IT parks. “We are going to tech companies through Kerala Diaspora network who are there in prominent positions; we are focusing on global capability centres (GCCs). We have a clear system in place, our GCC policy has been declared. We are collaborating with consultants, we are having roundtables, we have lot of leads”, Rao said.

The government’s target is to create 5 lakh jobs in tech-sector by 2031. At least 2 lakh jobs are expected to come from the GCC sector.

The government is also developing more tech-parks alongside the existing ones. In Thiruvananthapuram, works on the Phase IV of Technopark is on, in Kochi, two new projects have been announced, one very close to Infopark, where land has been provided by the State Iindustries department, and another within the proposed greenfield AI City project. “It is a 300-400 acre project which is coming up in Kochi. Here, for the first time in Kerala, the land will be made available through land pooling method, not acquisition. Similar expansion is planned in Cyberpark also”, Rao said.

The government has also announced plans for IT corridor projects in land parcels close to National Highway. “We are talking to many infrastructure players so that they will make use of the land pool and utilise the space. Work is on, many projects are in the pipeline, and we will ensure sufficient infrastructure for the IT sector”, Rao said.

According to Rao, the State is trying to be the preferred destination for tech-startups in the country. “A lot of policies have changed, a lot introduced. Single window clearance systems are put in place, Kerala got No 1 position in the Centre’s Business Reforms Action Plan”, Rao said adding that companies are evincing lot of interest in collaborating with the government in setting up innovation labs and accelerators.