Greetings, one and all. I had been added to the blog as an author a couple of months ago, but haven't managed a word since. Profound apologies for that. Saying that I got married and was carried away with that may sound like an excuse, but I don't think so myself.

In his generous introduction, Jai had mentioned that I hail from Trivandrum. Beyond that I am a management professional, an ex-strategy consultant, with a deep interest in all things civil, massive and tall. Right now I work for one of the world's top property development firms which has recently entered India (hush-hush, but they are building something which just beat the pants off Taipei 101....lol!)

I will try and maintain a regular update of the vertical and horizontal happenings from Trivandrum and the rest of Kerala.

Trivandrum is a city of over a million people and the greenest of its size in the country. It is the capital of Kerala and traces its history back nearly 2000 years, having been the capital of many a powerful kingdom. It is one of the most popular tourist destinations in India with its combination of beautiful beaches, culture, architecture and much more.

Of late, it has also become a top Tier II IT destination. The Technopark, located here, is the largest single IT park in India with over 3.5 million sq.ft of completed space and another 4 million sq.ft in various stages of development. Its tenants include Infosys, TCS, UST Global, IBS, Mckinsey, E&Y, Allianz, Tata Elxsi, NEST, McFaden, Office Tiger and more than 125 other firms from across the world. Last year IT exports reached Rs 1200 Crores placing it just behind Kolkata in the pecking order and 18,000 IT/ITES professionals are employed here as of today. Technopark has an aggressive growth plan charted out, which will make it one of the largest IT/knowledge ecosystems in the world with an extent of close to 1000 acres. You can read more at the Technopark thread at Skyscrapercity.com

The city also hosts a major cluster of research institutions in the aerospace, computer sciences, electronics, biotechnology and medicine. They include the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Centre for Development of Advance Computing, Centre for Development of Imaging Technology, National Institute of Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, Centre for Earth Science Studies, Tropical Botanical Garden, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Science and Technology and so on.

Another facet of Trivandrum is the presence of many top-class educational institutes including the Indian Institute of Space Technology, Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research, Indian Institute of Informationa Technology and Management, the College of Engineering Trivandrum, Trivandrum Medical College, Kerala University, Asian School of Business and Kerala Agricultural University. The city has no less than 17 engineering colleges, 4 medical colleges, 30-plus arts and science colleges, 30 central syllabus schools and an international school.

And each of these institutions are housed in their own campuses whose architecture ranges from traditional Kerala styles to post-modern designs.

Traditionally a laid-back, scenic city known for its intellectual and cultural prowess, Trivandrum is now rapidly advancing to meet and become part of the explosive growth story that is India. I look forward to sharing this saga with all of you going forward.

For more updates, do go through the Trivandrum thread at Skyscrapercity.com

Quick Updates:

1. The first phase of the 450,000 sq.ft. campus of IBS, a leading global player in the travel and logistics domain, was inaugurated in Technopark last month.
2. The work on the 1.5 million sq.ft. campus of UST Global, a US-based IT major, was inaugurated by the Kerala CM at Technopark Phase II.
3. The civil structural work of a 460,000 sq.ft IT park by the Leela Group is nearing completion at Technopark Phase I and is due to be finished by Dec.
4. The final date of submission of bids for the Rs 5300 Crore Vizhinjam deepwater container transshipment port was shifted to Dec 15 after international and Indian firms requested more time to prepare bids for India' deepest port. As many as 34 firms including the likes of PSA, Maersk, Rotterdam Port, Reliance, Gammon and so on are in the running for the mega-project.
5. The Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Praful Patel, announced that GoI would invest another Rs 500 Crores into the expansion of the Trivandrum International Airport, where work on a Rs 250 Crore terminal is in progress.
6. The Govt. of Kerala is poised to commence development of the 100 acre Technopark Phase III and the 500 acre Phase IV - also referred to as the Technocity Project.
7. Technocity is expected to garner an investment of over Rs 6000 Crores and become one of the biggest IT parks in the world. Leading international and national developers have expressed interest in the mega-project. More news about the project at the Technocity thread at Skyscrapercity.com

Stay tuned for more, in a few days time! Thanks for reading and take care. See you all soon!