Thiruvananthapuram corporation inks deal for Smart City plan

Thiruvananthapuram: The city corporation on Saturday signed an agreement with the Infrastructure Development Corporation of Karnataka (iDeCK) to prepare a proposal for bagging the Smart City project from the central government. The agreement  signed by Mayor V.K. Prasanth  was handed over to iDeCK associate vice-president Harshana Ganvath in the Mayor’s office.   The concept plan on the future of city’s development will be prepared within one month. The draft proposal will be completed before March 10 and the final report will be handed over to the corporation on March 27.

The iDeCK will be paid  Rs 24.67 lakh as the consultancy fee and a part of the amount will be chipped in by the central government. Around 10 per cent of the fee will be paid when the corporation accepts the concept plan  and  another 50 per cent  once the draft plan is accepted.  The last  instalment will be paid once the final report is accepted. The corporation has already contributed to the work  on a vision document in consultation with the public. Around 30 out of 100 marks will be awarded for the efficiency of these campaigns.

A state-level steering committee had  selected iDeCK to prepare a proposal for the capital as well Kochi. The fee quoted by iDeCK was almost half of that  quoted by several other companies during a bid. The company has been consultants to over 500 infrastructure projects across the country. Corporation standing committee chairpersons under deputy mayor Rakhi Ravikumar and IiDeCK urban planner Sophia Rafeeq were present during the signing of the agreement.