KIIFB approves smart classroom project

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The director board meeting of the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) that met here on Wednesday gave its clearance to projects worth Rs 449 crore.
They include 37 schools that are to be upgraded to hi-tech institutions and construction of seven railway over-bridges. The schools project is part of the government's decision under the general education protection campaign initiative to convert 45,000 classrooms in the state to smart classrooms.
With the latest clearance of projects, Rs 12,512 crore-worth projects have been cleared by KIIFB in three phases.The director board also cleared the proposal for setting up an alternate investment fund proposed as a method of fund mobilisation for the board. The alternate investment fund will be implemented through a company registered under the KIIFB. The company will categorize the projects under the KIIFB into two parts, and for those projects, which will yield financial returns, the government will accept investments from foreign agencies. The board also reviewed the Pravasi chit fund that is being instituted by the Kerala State Financial Enterprises for non-resident Keralites, which is a part of fund mobilisation under the KIIFB. The chit fund project has been cleared and is awaiting the final order from the government.
The first director board meeting of KIIFB that was convened in November last year itself had given clearance to 48 infrastructure projects, mainly road and water supply projects. The 48 projects that have been approved by the board included 23 water supply projects, 19 road projects, two health and IT projects and one each in industry and forests departments.
The first investment in KIIFB was made by national bank for agriculture and rural development (Nabard) that has cleared Rs 569 crore for the state, which will mainly be utilised to fund the road projects proposed through the board. More funds are expected from Nabard as it has agreed to release funds for state through the KIIFB on a project-to-project basis.