Kerala starts land pooling for 300-acre tech township in Kochi

Kerala is offering developed land in phase 3 of the Kochi Infopark to landowners in exchange for plots they have surrendered for the 300-acre project the government is building on the outskirts of the city.

The Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) will develop the project over three to four years at Kizhakkambalam. The third phase will have 20 million square feet of IT space and about 5,000 residential units. Infopark, which is an arm of the government will own and manage the hub.

Infopark and GCDA have signed an MoU in the presence of chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and industries minister P Rajeeve.


The government has bypassed the usual land acquisition process that’s typically beset with resistance and legal challenges. Instead, the land-pooling model is expected to make the process easier as it is consent-based. This will help the government build the facility faster, Infopark CEO Susanth Kurunthil and GCDA chairman K Chandran Pillai told mediapersons in Kochi on Tuesday.

The MoU allows GCDA to identify suitable land for pooling and later build roads, IT parks, and other amenities.

Individual plot owners will receive a pre-agreed portion of the developed plot as compensation, which would command a higher market value, Kurunthil and Pillai said. They added that the GCDA will ensure that the process follows the Kerala Land Pooling Rules.

These rules allow the project to proceed only if 75% of owners of the targeted land parcels consent to voluntarily giving up their plots for the project. The GCDA has begun discussions with landowners explaining the benefits of the land pooling model, the officials said.

The government hopes to attract about Rs 25,000 crore in investments in phase three, Rajeeve said, and added that it would generate about two lakh direct and four lakh indirect jobs.

“The project will drive growth and innovation, strengthening Kerala’s position in the IT sector’’, he said in a post on X. The project aims to attract global tech giants and GCCs of leading companies.

Along with phase three, land acquisition for phase four is also in progress. The two existing phases of the Infopark in Kakkanad are spread over 231 acres, and all tech hubs in Kochi together are estimated to employ over 1,20,000 people.