Shedding its image of being a landlord-model developer, Infoparks Kerala is looking at strategies to emerge as a business enabler to support IT firms in its parks to attain their next level of growth.
The idea is to bring in large IT/software companies to Kochi to set up facilities either through acquisition or mergers with existing units that would help the firms here to grow, said Susanth Kurunthil, the newly appointed CEO of Infoparks Kerala.
Formed to create infrastructure facilities for IT/ITES companies in the central Kerala region, Infoparks main hub is spread over 260 acres located in Kakkanad near Kochi. It has two satellite campuses — at Koratty in Thrissur and Cherthala in Alappuzha within a reach of 45 minutes from the main hub.
Of the 580 companies in the park, Kurunthil said it is a mix of large and small ones and there is a need to help them grow from service-oriented firms to product development ones. This would create more job opportunities and in turn, would lead to Kochi’s development, Kurunthil told businessline in an interaction.
Kochi’s growth potential
Kochi, with its cosmopolitan outlook, has all the growth potential for development with the presence of bigger IT firms like Bengaluru. The emerging metro has good connectivity and other positive factors that would help to bring more resources, and job opportunities both at mid and senior levels.
Considering the market trends globally, the CEO underlined the need for creating a cluster of SaaS companies that provide specific solutions. However, space constraints in the park are an issue for expansion. Right now, the space availability is less than 20,000 sq ft.
“We have been in touch with the government to allot more land or co-development. We have proposed an Advanced Technologies Park in Koratty, which has a good scope for development,” Kurunthil said. The availability of two lakh sq ft space in Cherthala park has the advantage to promote it as a remote location.
Kerala IT Parks is even planning a big branding exercise and individual organisations such as Infoparks Kerala can go for sub-branding exercises to promote their existing facilities.
“We have a vision to support IT firms operating outside the park after building an ecosystem inside,” Kurunthil added.
Published on March 20, 2023
