The State government has evolved a concept called ‘Work from Kerala’ encouraging Keralites employed by global companies to work by staying back at their home State, Minister for Industries P. Rajeeve has said.
He was delivering the inaugural address at IBM’s GenAI Innovation Centre at Infopark Kochi on Tuesday(November 12).
The idea is to leverage Kerala’s unique advantages from sustainable transport facilities, clean air and water besides open-minded people. Later while addressing a media conference on the sidelines, Mr. Rajeeve said that many companies were asking for space as there exists a climate in Kerala for attracting world-class companies. But we have a dearth of land as a result of which the scope of land pooling is being explored.
Land has been identified in a panchayat adjacent to Infopark for the third phase expansion. The Greater Cochin Development Authority will hold a workshop of all stakeholders on land pooling, which is new to Kerala, on November 23, Mr. Rajeeve said.
The rules for land pooling have been notified and are available in public domain. Land pooling will be undertaken once 75% of the landowners concerned give their consent. The land will be developed based on a master plan with provision for IT parks, residential and commercial areas. A certain percentage of the developed land with enhanced value will be returned to the owners, he said.
Mr. Rajeeve said that IBM has recruited over 2,000 people in two years and that number is set to be increased to 5,000. It was on IBM’s request for better linkage between the industry and the academia that a six-month internship was introduced in engineering colleges. Now the Kerala Technical University and the Cochin University of Science and Technology have built in the provision for internship into their academic system.
The artwork at the new innovation centre was done by artisans from places like Perumatty in Palakkad, Nilambur in Malappuram and Eroor in Ernakulam. They were felicitated at the inaugural function.
Published – November 12, 2024 05:59 pm IST
