64 per cent of land acquired for IT parks unutilised in Kerala
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Comptroller and Auditor-General of India has pointed out that about 64 percent of the land acquired for IT development in the state was remaining unutilised.
Out of the 1,384.12 acres provided by the government for IT parks (Technopark, Infopark and Cyberpark) and Kerala State IT Infrastructure Limited (KSITIL), only 504.40 acres was utilised till November 2014 and about 64 per cent (879.72 acres) still remained unutilised.
The major portion of the unutilised land is at Technocity, Infopark and KSITIL. KSITIL acquired 402.65 acres of land in seven regions of the state to set up hub-and-spoke model for IT development, which included the Kundara Technopark, Cherthala Infopark, Koratty Infopark, Kozhikode Cyberpark and Kannur and Kasargod spokes.
But these areas were not ideal for IT development. Though 394,390 sq. ft. Buildings were constructed in these areas, 80.76 percent of land remained unallotted.
A total of Rs 229.88 crore was spent on land acquisition and construction. The Techno-lodge centres in rural areas also failed to deliver the result.
The CAG report tabled in Assembly on Monday also pointed out flaws in allotting land to Taurus Downtown project at Technopark Phase-III area.
The land allotted to Taurus for commercial venture included a portion of land which was earlier allotted to another co-developer forIT development activities.
The audit report also detected irregularities in land allotment to co-developers by Technopark and Infopark. As there was no standardised procedures for land acquisition, land was allotted at different rates to different IT firms in an arbitrary manner.
