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Official involvement strong in Aranmula project
Official involvement strong in Aranmula project

Time of India

time17-06-2025

  • Business
  • Time of India

Official involvement strong in Aranmula project

T'puram: As criticism over the state's renewed push for a township project on the controversial Aranmula land grows, internal documents accessed by TOI expose the depth of official involvement. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Far from being a routine proposal, the plan by M/s TOFL Pathanamthitta Infra Ltd was seriously pursued across multiple departments — including IT, finance, law, industries and revenue — with Technopark even clearing it for co-branding under Kerala's flagship IT identity. The IT department's internal note clearly establishes that the proposal was not confined to Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Ltd (KSITIL) or its boardroom. The industries department noted that it was already examining the proposal to set up an electronics manufacturing cluster (EMC) as a joint venture through Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) and added that the matter was currently pending before the revenue department due to land-related concerns. The seriousness of intent becomes even more evident in the next set of communications. The IT department sought detailed responses from the finance and law departments on two specific aspects: KSITIL holding sweat equity shares in TOFL and nominating a govt director to its board. The finance department demanded key documentation: a detailed project report, KSITIL board approvals, remarks from revenue, environment, industries and law departments and a formal statement on whether the proposal aligned with the state's IT policy. The law department, in its reply, offered an interpretation grounded in the Companies Act. It said sweat equity shares can only be issued to a company's directors or employees and added that no policy decision was yet taken on whether a public limited company like KSITIL could hold sweat equity in a private entity like TOFL. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The law department further instructed that the matter must be legally examined considering the Articles and Memorandum of Association of KSITIL. Acting on this, KSITIL placed the issue before its board and got three resolutions passed in its 66th meeting, including formally approving the acceptance of sweat equity and the creation of a nominee director post. But the institutional push didn't stop there. The Technopark CEO weighed in with an extensive recommendation supporting co-branding of the project under its affiliation programme. According to the note, the CEO stated that once the project achieved basic legal clearances and development milestones, it could be included under the affiliation programme "which is more suited to complete developments than greenfield projects. " The CEO went on to assert that Technopark could provide visibility via its social media handles and even offer TOFL support in terms of consultancy and guidance for infrastructure development "if required." The note also confirms that Technopark expressed confidence that the project would adhere to environmental and legal compliance norms and that such ventures could enhance the brand value of IT parks in Kerala. The CEO also mentioned that TOFL's township consultancy might be shaped to meet the minimum requirements of an IT park and that the terms of such collaboration could be mutually agreed upon later. Put together, these revelations debunk any notion that the township proposal was just another file doing the rounds in govt corridors. The fact that so many departments were mobilised, that KSITIL passed official board resolutions, that the law department weighed in on corporate structure, and that Technopark was preparing to allow the use of its branding, all point to a system-wide coordination effort—suggesting that the govt was well past the exploratory phase and began constructing the institutional framework needed to partner with TOFL on a massive, politically sensitive project. This comes in the backdrop of the govt already facing flak for entertaining a project on the same 335 acres of ecologically fragile land once earmarked for the scrapped Aranmula airport—land the LDF govt itself claimed needed to be protected. The latest disclosures may add fuel to that criticism, not just for their implications on environmental policy, but also for the apparent policy U-turn in aligning with a private player it once publicly opposed, now with deeper institutional ties and branding alliances. The questions now go beyond policy consistency and touch upon the transparency and process by which such large-scale partnerships are constructed — with sweat equity, brand sharing and public sector endorsement all being considered for a project that rests on ecologically and politically volatile terrain.

Not a mere proposal, Kerala government mulls equity partnership in Aranmula cluster project
Not a mere proposal, Kerala government mulls equity partnership in Aranmula cluster project

Time of India

time16-06-2025

  • Business
  • Time of India

Not a mere proposal, Kerala government mulls equity partnership in Aranmula cluster project

Thiruvananthapuram: The proposed electronics manufacturing cluster project in the Aranmula wetlands by M/s TOFL Pathanamthitta Infra Ltd — the same company behind the scrapped Aranmula airport project — has now assumed more serious proportions with the state govt itself considering becoming an equity partner in it. The board of Kerala State IT Infrastructure Ltd (KSITIL)—the state's nodal agency for IT infrastructure—has approved key terms, including acceptance of 5% sweat equity — interest in return for labour towards upkeep or restoration — in the project and the appointment of a govt-nominated director on TOFL's board, to enter into the partnership. TOI on Monday reported that the state govt is weighing the cluster proposal on the very same 335-acre stretch of ecologically fragile paddy land and wetland that once sparked statewide protests over an airport proposed there. The present move raises serious questions about the state's policy consistency and environmental commitment, as the LDF govt had scrapped all clearances to the airport project in Nov 2016, in keeping with its election promise. Far from being just a proposal pending before the govt, the matter has now moved decisively forward. An internal note of the IT department quotes directly from KSITIL's board proceedings, stating, "the KSITIL board passed three resolutions in its 66th meeting approving the suggestion to accept sweat equity shares in M/s TOFL and to form a nominee director position as per Section 2(88) and Section 54 of the Companies Act, 2013, and Rule 8 of the Companies (Share Capital and Debentures) Rules, 2014. " It also notes that the proposal is "not only advantageous for the state's industrial growth" but also "indicates that the govt can invest and collaborate with the company." What underlines the gravity of this development is that KSITIL is a fully govt-owned company under the electronics and IT department, which functions directly under the chief minister. "Decisions taken by its board, especially regarding strategic investments, cannot be treated as routine. They are subject to detailed deliberation and political oversight at the highest level. This is not a vague idea awaiting vetting—it is a concrete board-approved strategy awaiting further action," a senior IT department official said on conditions of anonymity. The internal note makes it clear that the company, in exchange for equity participation, expects the state to provide a host of institutional and branding support. It outlines requests to declare the area as an industrial township under the Kerala Industrial Single Window Clearance Board and Industrial Township Act, 1999; establish a dedicated clearance board for fast-tracking statutory approvals; and extend rights to use Technopark's brand and trademarks for co-branding and marketing. KSITIL, as the govt's partner, has also promised to facilitate all infrastructure support, including electricity, water and internet connectivity. The note refers to the 2025 draft IT policy to justify the partnership approach: "As envisaged in the 2025 draft IT policy, joint development with private investors is to be promoted and full support and packages extended to such projects," the KSITIL MD states. These mark a significant deviation from a policy position that once seemed non-negotiable. The same ruling front, which made scrapping the Aranmula airport a cornerstone of its green politics, is now facilitating a project of similar scale, by the same company, on the same land, with even deeper financial and institutional alignment. Notably, the note makes no mention of a fresh environmental impact assessment (EIA) or public consultation processes, despite the well-documented ecological sensitivity of the region. The LDF earlier argued that the land comprised notified paddy fields and wetlands protected under the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act, but those concerns seem to have been sidelined in favour of large-scale infrastructure promotion. This pivot, from fierce opposition to institutional collaboration, is not just a political irony, but a moment of reckoning for the state's approach to environmental governance, investor engagement and public accountability.

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