The Kerala government has sanctioned the transfer of 1,340 acres of land to the Kerala Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (KICDC), the special purpose vehicle created for the development of the Kochi-Bengaluru industrial corridor. The project envisages, among other things, the development of two major nodes- the Integrated Manufacturing Cluster at Palakkad and the Global City at Kochi.

The total land requirement for the Integrated Manufacturing Cluster, the first node of the project, is 1,710 acres, spread across three parcels – Pudussery Central, Pudussery West, and Kannambra in Palakkad district. The State government earlier accorded administrative sanction for acquisition of land in Palakkad for the industrial corridor project with the financial aid of Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB). As part of this, the government accorded sanction to transfer 110 acres of land in Pudussery village in Palakkad.

The managing director of the Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (KINFRA), the nodal agency for land acquisition, had earlier this year requested the government to transfer the remaining land to the special purpose vehicle (SPV) with absolute ownership, free from all encumbrances, and granting of freehold rights to the SPV.

Following this, the government decided to accord sanction to transfer the remaining 1,340 acres to the SPV. An area of 1,450 acres was earlier acquired for the project, out of which 110 acres was transferred earlier. The Industries Minister had said last month that the State government is planning to go ahead in principle with the Global City project in Ayyampuzha. It will have to bear an additional burden with the Union government withdrawing from the project.