THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Thiruvananthapuram Smart City Limited, the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) through which the smart city project will be implemented, has almost come into existence. The registration of the company is in its final stages, after the Article of Association and Memorandum of Association have been approved by the financial department. The Thiruvananthapuram corporation has transferred Rs 1.67 crore from its own fund for the registration of the company.
Now, the digital signatures of its 12 board directors should be uploaded on the site of the Ministry for Urban Corporate Affairs. Though the original plan was to complete the company registration by the end of July, there was delay in the legal whetting of the draft AoA and MoA, as the department of law had taken a few weeks to study the documents. They pointed out four corrections deemed minor by corporation officials. The LSGD had incorporated the corrections and sent to the finance department last week. Once the legal and financial whetting were completed, the LSGD had issued a Government Order this week.
The formation of the company is important for the implementation of the project. Only after the first board meeting is convened will the Centre release the first instalment of the smart city fund. Moreover, the board needs to approve the Request for Proposals (RfP) for a consultancy which would assist in the implementation of the project. It was because Kochi delayed in finalising its consultancy that the implementation of Kochi’s smart city project components got delayed. Sources say that the first board meeting of Thiruvana-nthapuram Smart City Limited will be held next week.
