IT incubation centre at Kaloor to be expanded by July-end

KOCHI: The Kerala State IT Mission (KSITM) is all set to complete expansion of its ITES habitat centre, an incubation centre for young IT entrepreneurs located in Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium, Kaloor, by July-end.
The centre currently provides opportunities to 35 entrepreneurs would be able to accommodate as many more.
K A Rajeev, KSITM mission coordinator, said the project costs around Rs 2.3 crore.
"Currently we are planning to develop the 6,700 sq ft area available on the first and second floors. The space would be apportioned into cubicles of sizes ranging from 100 to 400 sq ft," he said.
Rajeev said the centre was gaining popularity among young entrepreneurs and every year it was able to provide space to about five new companies. "More than 80 youngsters who want to set up businesses are in the waiting list, and we don't enough space to accommodate them," he said.
"After completing the expansion work, a start-up seat facility would be offered in order to accommodate the maximum number of new entrepreneurs. Currently about 300 IT professionals are working in about 35 firms functioning in this habitat," Rajeev said.
Even though the habitat is providing opportunities to youngsters, it has not been getting sufficient support from the IT Ministry and the state government, officials said. "It is surprising that many in the department are not aware of such an establishment. When we approached the government with a project proposal for renovation, we were asked to approach banks for loans," said a senior KSITM official.
He was also apprehensive about background moves to hijack the IT habitat and hand over it to private players. "This centre is providing entrepreneurship opportunities at a cost of Rs 35 per sq ft, which is very cheap compared to other entrepreneur incubators. If this centre is handed over to other agencies, the whole concept of providing cheap entrepreneurship opportunities would be toppled," said an official.