THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) will soon give final clearance to the first Electronic Park in Kerala at Kakkanad, which is expected to attract investments of over Rs 500 cr in the field of hardware and embedded systems. It will also generate thousands of job opportunities.
This will be the third Electronic Park in the country to be supported by DeitY. Two others have already been sanctioned in Bhopal and Jabalpur.
“We are awaiting final clarifications from the State Government. As soon as we get them, the final nod for the project will be given”, said Neetesh Gupta, a scientist with DeitY, on the sidelines of a conclave on hardware industry here, the other day.
The Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (KINFRA) has mooted '129 cr for the Electronic Park project, also known as Electronic Manufacturing Cluster (EMC), on about 60 acres of land in Kakkanad in the public-private-partnership model.
The Centre would also provide maximum financial support of up to Rs 50 cr. Apart from basic infrastructure, electronic labs and other support facilities for hardware and embedded systems would be made available at the park.
S. Ramnath, former managing director of KINFRA, who submitted the proposal for the park, said the EMC was expected to be commissioned during the 2015-16 fiscal, provided there were no other obstacles.
Already, a few private firms have come forward for tie ups with KINFRA for the EMC. Former State IT Secretary Ajay Kumar who is now Joint Secretary in DeitY, has been playing a key role in getting the EMC sanctioned for Kerala.
