To give a fillip to the activities of Kochi Bangalore Industrial Corridor (KBIC) the National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Ltd (NICDC) has conducted the kick-off meeting with the master planning design agency CH2M HILL (India) Private Limited in consortium with CH2M HILL International Ltd (Jacobs Engineering Group) and urged the agency to complete the master planning activities in a time bound manner.
The agency is appointed for developing Smart Integrated Manufacturing Cluster (IMC) at Palakkad and Kochi Global Industrial Finance and Trade City. CEO and MD of National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Ltd (NICDC) K. Sanjay Murthy. IAS, and Additional Chief Secretary (Industries) Alkesh Kumar Sharma IAS attended the kick-off meeting conducted via Video Conference in which top officials of Jacobs also participated.
The Project head of Jacobs discussed the project deliverables and timelines for completing master planning activities. The agency informed the meeting that the team appointed by them has already started work and will finalise the inception report in September 2020 itself. The agency has already set up an office in Kerala. A team will be placed in Kerala for conducting Geo-Technical Survey and stakeholder meetings for demand analysis, etc.
Additional Chief Secretary Alkesh Kumar Sharma who is heading the KBIC asked the agency to complete the master planning activities by February 2021. ACS highlighted the importance of multimodal connectivity and integrated industrial development.
He also stressed the importance of proper demand and economic analysis to identify suitable industries and other economic activities to be set-up in Palakkad as well as in Kochi.
The major activities include preparation of Detailed Master Plan along with notification of the final Master Plan, Preliminary Design work with 3D model, EIA clearance, Tender Package & BIM model, selection of contractor along with approval of GFC drawings and handholding assistance. Master planning activities will be completed within 8 months. Extension of Chennai–Bangalore Industrial Corridor Project (CBIC) to Kochi and Coimbatore was approved by National Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust ( NICDIT) in September last year.
