Three airports in Kerala will soon have Science Parks nearby
A plan to establish three science parks close to the airports in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, and Kannur has been approved by the State Government. The parks would be set up with an investment of Rs 200 crore each and all of them will have 10 lakh sq ft space.
The main associate universities for the parks will be University of Kerala, Cochin University of Science and Technology, and Kannur University. Funds from the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board are being used to build the parks. The Kerala State Science Technology and Environment Council has also been designated by the cabinet as the special purpose entity for the construction of the parks. Land acquisition for the project would be handled by Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Ltd (KSITIL).
A nine-person consultation committee has been formed, with K P Sudheer, Principal Secretary (ex-officio) of the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology, and Environment (KSCSTE), serving as its chairperson.
Soon, a resource team would be established to facilitate the parks’ setup. The Government has announced the setting up of four parks in the 2022-23 budget.
Isolation block: The State cabinet has approved spending Rs 34.74 crore to construct isolation blocks at the medical schools in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode for the treatment of patients with contagious illnesses. The cabinet also requested that the relevant authorities make sure that both the new isolation ward being established and the existing isolation wards in hospitals are used efficiently.