Thiruvananthapuram: Smart City's Special Purpose Vehicle to be delayed

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Thiruvananthapuram Corporation had announced that by July 30 the Special Purpose Vehicle, the company through which the Smart City project will be implemented, will be up and running. However, officials now fear that there could be delays. For one, the Article of Association and Memorandum of Association, which according to their previously published schedule would be over by July 25, is yet to be ready. The draft needs to be whetted by the government, and later approved in the council. In Kochi, this had taken at least a month, according to officials. Another issue: the CEO of smart city SPV was announced last week, but he has not yet taken charge.

Though the Corporation was planning to follow the AoA and MoA of Cochin Smart Mission Limited, it had to make some slight changes. Officials say Thiruvananthapuram smart city SPV will have an advisory forum, a panel of experts on various subjects who can make suggestions and recommendations, as well as monitor the project throughout. The members of the technical committee constituted during the smart city competition will most likely be the members of the forum. Though it is mentioned in Central government’s broad guidelines in connection with SPV formation, Kochi does not have it. When asked whether having such a forum will slow decision making, officials shared that it won’t have any statutory powers.