KOCHI, 27 October 2007 — The National Waterway-III connecting the southern town of Kollam to Kottappuram in Thrissur district will be opened for navigation on Nov. 1 to mark the 51st year of the formation of Kerala state.
The project is part of the Rs.5350 billion National Waterway funded by the federal government. The state, which has one of India’s best network of backwaters and canals, hopes to link the northern border town of Manjeshwaram to Kovalam, the southern beach resort within two years.
“A sizeable share of goods will shift to the waterways which is economical, clean and a much safer way of transport. This will ease the congestion on the roads,” said B.R. Menon, adviser to the state government on inland waterways and ports and chairman of the Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation.
“A unit of one horsepower can carry 50 kg load through the road, 500 kg through rail and 5,000 kg through the waterway,” he said.
The 205-km-long Kollam-Kottapuram waterway was declared as NW-III in 1993 and dredging began soon after but faced hurdles due to local-level opposition and lack of support from state agencies. However, the work gained momentum last year, soon after the then President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam mooted ‘Smart Waterways’ for Kerala as the ideal mode of transporting goods and people.
The state has also decided to set up Kerala Inland Water Development Authority (KIWDA) for coordination between different agencies and local authorities. KIWDA would also ensure that the banks of water bodies were safe.
Seven terminals have been built along the Kottappuram-Kollam stretch for storing goods. Two more are on the anvil — one in Alappuzha and the other a container terminal in Kollam.
A pilot run using the barge of KSINC carrying hydrochloric acid from Travancore Cochin Chemicals to Kerala Minerals and Metals Ltd, Chavara, was successfully carried out recently.
Kerala has 44 west flowing rivers to boost the cargo movement and the NW-III would provide connectivity between them. Connectivity to the Cochin International Airport is also part of the plan.
“Once the work is completed, it will be the finest water travel in India, benefiting tourism,” Menon told reporters here. Along with Menon, Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan had recently inspected the twin tunnels in Varkala, which was constructed in 1880.
“Many canals such as the Kochi and Perandoor Canals were being used for navigation till some decades ago. The distance from Thripunithura to Kochi can be covered in around 12 minutes through the waterways,” he said.
The Kovalam-Kollam stretch of the waterway is 74 km long and the Kottapuram-Manjeshwaram stretch 348 km. Development of 650 km involves a cost of roughly Rs.8 billion and 16.6 percent of the present goods traffic can move to Smart Waterways in the first phase itself, according to estimates.
Besides the cost advantage compared to roads and rails, the waterway is estimated to add on Rs.20 billion to the Gross State Domestic Product. It also throws up immense opportunities for the tourism industry and cargo logistics.
According to the National Council for Applied Economic Research, transportation costs at one rupee per ton/km by road as against 0.55 rupees per ton/km by water. However, only 20 percent of the 1,650-km waterway is in usable condition at present.
200,000 IT Jobs in Five Years
Kerala has emerged as one of the fastest growing information technology hubs in India and the industry will provide additional jobs to at least 200,000 people during the next five years, Chief Minister Achuthanandan said.
Last week, the chief minister inaugurated the new 450,000-sq. ft. campus of the IBS Software Services and laid the foundation for the new campus of the UST Global at Technopark here.
Dubai’s Tecom Investments is developing the 350-acre Smart City while Sobha Developers has started work on the 400-acre hi-tech city in the port city of Kochi. These two projects alone are expected to create 150,000 jobs. “We are also building a 500-acre Techno City in Thiruvananthapuram and contract had been awarded to a Malaysian consortium to develop similar facility on 250 acres in Kozhikode. We are envisaging a decentralized development in the sector with similar facilities in all the 14 districts,” he added.
The Cochin International Airport is developing an IT Park on its premises while major players including HDIL have announced a number of projects to build IT infrastructure in the state. Indian IT majors Wipro, Infosys and TCS are also building their own campuses in the state for their development centers.
“The investment profile of the state has changed drastically and we receive a lot of inquiries these days for setting up new projects. Unlike Bangalore or Hyderabad, these are not concentrated in a single city,” Achuthanandan who also holds the IT portfolio said.
The IBS facility that the chief minister inaugurated in the presence of former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy who took major initiatives to attract investors to the state, is the first of the four blocks on the IBS campus spread over 5.26 acres of land within Technopark.
The upcoming 36-acre campus of the UST Global will feature “connected” buildings that would provide a serene software campus environment, complemented by landscaped courtyards and public spaces.
“It will feature a built-up area of 1.6 million sq. ft. that will be rolled out in three phases. The first phase will be ready within a year and it will house 5,000 IT professionals. I also understand that the UST Global has plans to start a center in Kochi,” Achuthanandan said.
The company said it would create a world-class working environment here with the use of environmentally sustainable materials and processes. “The campus here is our next step to become the best IT and BPO services company in the world,” Sajan Pillai, UST Global president, said. He said his company was keen on exploring the possibilities of setting up IT units in tier-2 and tier-3 cities in Kerala. “Rather than picking up the candidates for far-off places, we are thinking in terms of bringing jobs to the places where the right candidates are located. Our plan is to develop facility centers in cities from Kannur to Kollam,” Pillai said.
The company’s existing facility at Technopark currently houses some 3,000 professionals. It would require close to 6,000 professionals additionally for its expansion programs.
The revenue of the company has crossed $200 million per annum and 70 percent of the same was derived out of the UST Global facility center in Thiruvananthapuram. It also has plans to go public by next year.
Pillai said the UST Global also intends to set up a finishing school — UST Academy — within the new campus for the candidates the company recruits. The company is also open to proposals for a tie-up with the state government on offering the academy’s services.
