Recently, the much hyped Smart City in Kochi has been in the news for all the wrong (and right) reasons. Even as they claim to have commenced the much delayed construction, they have sub-leased the SEZ land for schools, educational institutes, and other establishments.
There is a difference between entrusting construction to a contractor and sub-leasing the land itself for development.
If sub-lease is at play, then what exactly is the role of TECOM? Why did the govt. give not just land but even money to TECOM. (The government gave away 200+ acres of land and around 15 crores as the government's share of equity in the company, to promote "investment."). They (either GoK directly or Infopark) could very well have called for a tender and given land to the sub-lessee directly, eliminating the middleman TECOM.
And it is not that TECOM has lobbied for Kochi's cause and brought in Universal Studios or Harvard University - they've so far brought in the likes of SCMS and GEMS, all local or regional players, who would surely have come in anyway.
Note that TECOM may be "legally" right to sub-lease, but the issue here is of the "law" itself. Smart City Kochi is the local manifestation of the wrong policies and sham in vogue all over India, in the name of attracting investments.
TECOM is not going to sublease for charity. They will take their cut. So as things stand, TECOM walks away with money that is rightfully due to exchequer, and that money could have been used for many things - least of all, to remove the toll at Kundanoor or Paliyenkara or Puleppady or Ponnuruni.
So the next time the government says it has no money to replace toll with annuity, the next time the government raises petrol/diesel/LPG price saying that need more tax (while pretending to remove subsidies), remember the revenue lost from TECOM. This is a possible example of how corruption affects you and me.
There is a difference between entrusting construction to a contractor and sub-leasing the land itself for development.
If sub-lease is at play, then what exactly is the role of TECOM? Why did the govt. give not just land but even money to TECOM. (The government gave away 200+ acres of land and around 15 crores as the government's share of equity in the company, to promote "investment."). They (either GoK directly or Infopark) could very well have called for a tender and given land to the sub-lessee directly, eliminating the middleman TECOM.
And it is not that TECOM has lobbied for Kochi's cause and brought in Universal Studios or Harvard University - they've so far brought in the likes of SCMS and GEMS, all local or regional players, who would surely have come in anyway.
Note that TECOM may be "legally" right to sub-lease, but the issue here is of the "law" itself. Smart City Kochi is the local manifestation of the wrong policies and sham in vogue all over India, in the name of attracting investments.
TECOM is not going to sublease for charity. They will take their cut. So as things stand, TECOM walks away with money that is rightfully due to exchequer, and that money could have been used for many things - least of all, to remove the toll at Kundanoor or Paliyenkara or Puleppady or Ponnuruni.
So the next time the government says it has no money to replace toll with annuity, the next time the government raises petrol/diesel/LPG price saying that need more tax (while pretending to remove subsidies), remember the revenue lost from TECOM. This is a possible example of how corruption affects you and me.