Thiruvananthapuram: A delegation of automobile major Nissan will hold discussions with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday about their plans to set up a global IT hub in Thiruvananthapuram. According to sources, the delegation held meetings with chief secretary Paul Antony and other top officials of government and the Technopark on Monday. They had already visited the facilities at Technopark. Nissan is also learnt to be looking for space at the upcoming facilities in Technopark phase - III.
The Nissan delegation comprised Corporate Vice-President and Chief Information Officer Anthony Thomas, who is an alumnus of the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram. He is also a member of the High-Power IT Committee of the state government which recently organised the #FUTURE event in Kochi. Meanwhile, Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor said in a tweet that if Nissan decides to invest in Technopark, it would generate about 5,000 jobs and also give a major boost to Thiruvananthapuram's technology and knowledge ecosystem.
Mr. Tharoor had held initial rounds of talks with Nissan officials in January, following which Kerala Development and Innovation Strategic Council chairman K.M. Abraham and IT secretary M. Sivasankar met the Nissan management in Japan. Sources said that the proposed global IT hub could even cater to emerging technologies like electric and driver-less cars.
