We are pleased that the Honourable Supreme Court of India has disposed of the Appeal Petition filed against Technopark and the Government of Kerala on an Environment complaint alleging the presence of wetland in Technopark Phase 3. The petition had been earlier disposed of by the Honourable National Green Tribunal (NGT) in 2018/2019. The Supreme Court in its final judgement on the Appeal Petition noted that the Government of Kerala had produced numerous records to establish that the Technopark Phase 3 land has always been recorded as Paddy Fields since its acquisition in 2003 and never as a wetland. The Appeal Petition against the orders of the NGT disposing of the Execution Petition filed in the NGT was found to be infructuous based on the action already taken by the District Collector, Trivandrum in this matter. This brings to an end the Supreme Court litigation, reaffirming our belief that the allegations made by the litigants were contrary to the facts of the matter. Post the resolution of the litigation that resulted in a five-month disruption of work, all steps have been initiated to remobilise our developments in Technopark Phase 3.
While COVID-19 restrictions are still in place and the fag end of the North-east Monsoon is still in progress, our project management team is proceeding with a measured plan to recommence work in compliance of all applicable COVID-19 protocols. The lockdown had significantly impacted the timelines and development costs of the project, but our management team is working on a catch-up plan.
Construction of Keystone, the 60,000 square foot, pre-fabricated, incubation building, had just been completed when the March lockdown orders were issued. With tenants already in place, we are now working to ensure that the 800-seater Plug & Play facility becomes fully operational in December 2020.
“Niagara”, the first of two 1.5 Million square foot, Class A, office buildings in the Embassy Taurus TechZone, is now targeted for completion in early 2022. Work on the 1.3 Million square foot, Taurus Zentrum and 0.5 Million square foot Taurus Yosemite will commence in early 2021.
Taurus Downtown Trivandrum is a critical piece of the business infrastructure for the development of Trivandrum as a world-class, employment and economic hub. Embassy Taurus TechZone encompasses 2 million square feet of leasable space, where occupiers will employ over 20,000 technology professionals. Taurus Yosemite, with close to 400,000 square feet of office space, will also provide workspaces for about 4,000 people. Zentrum will generate at least 3,500 direct employment opportunities. While the project stands to create 27,500 – 30,000 direct employment, the magnitude of indirect job creation will be many times greater.
We are grateful for the unstinting and strong cooperation of the Government of Kerala and Technopark in resolving this matter, as well as for the strong support received from members of the community that we are part of and are striving to support. Taurus, and its partners Embassy Group and Asset Homes are striving for the speedy completion of this landmark project. We look forward to the support of all stakeholders in ensuring that such frivolous and counterproductive interruptions are avoided in order to ensure an environment that is conducive to development.
