Kochi: Infopark Thrissur, the successful spoke of the Kochi hub, is set for major growth with the launch of the first building of the second phase on Thursday.
The single block building, developed on six acres, has a total built-up area of 3.3 lakh square feet and will have space for start-ups and SMEs.
Infopark CEO Hrishikesh Nair said the new building, named 'Indeevaram', has already been attracting interest from major companies in the IT space. "We have inquiries from KPOs to companies in the big data analysis," he said.
"Keys will be handed over to clients like the Dubai-based Almotahida Education, Spanish IT company Yoptimizo IT Solutions, Braddock Infotech, Uvionics tech and ICT Academy on Thursday itself."
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will inaugurate the building while opposition leader V. S. Achuthanandan and IT minister P. K. Kunhalikkutty, among others, will attend the function.
Mr Nair said that at present the ground floor has been readied as plug & play and the rest as warm shells. Unlike in the first phase, Indeevaram is notified under special economic zone (SEZ).
This is expected to boost the export oriented businesses. "Also, companies can expect a cost benefit of up to 30 per cent over the main hub at Kochi," he added.
"Apart from the ground floor, other floors have been prepared as warm shells. However, if we get more enquiries, we will convert the warm shells to plug & play areas," Mr Nair said.
Mr Nair said that Indeevaram was completed for a total cost of Rs 76 crore, taking the total investment in infrastructure and facilities in both phases to a total of Rs 100 crore.
Infopark Thrissur, located Koratty, is developed in a 30-acre land of which 12 acre is in non-SEZ land and 18 acre in SEZ category. The new building is expected to create 3,000 jobs and Infopark expects to generate 10,000 jobs as it develops further.
Mr Nair was upbeat about the prospects of Inforpark and said that for the fiscal year 2014-15, Infopark has clocked software exports worth Rs 3,150 crore.
“This was a figure we were looking to achieve only in fiscal year 2015-16. So we are a year ahead. Even for the next year, we expect clock exports of around Rs 3,500 crore to Rs 3,700 crore.”
