Kochi, Oct 22 (IANS): Smart City Kochi, Kerala government's prestigious IT project, has received complete environmental clearance, a top official of the project said Wednesday.

The environmental clearance for the first phase of the project, which will be opened in March next year, was received in July last year. "Now we have received clearance for the entire project," said Gigo Joseph, chief executive officer of the Smart City.

"In the 246 acres of land, there will be no less than 8.8 million sq ft of built-up area which will house information and communication technology, media, finance, research and innovation clusters from within India and abroad," said Joseph.

The clearance was given at the meeting of State Environment Impact Assessment Authority Kerala (SEIAA-K) of the Ministry of Environment and Forests following recommendations by the State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC).

Smart City KOchi is a joint venture between Dubai Holdings and the Kerala government.

"We have also entered into agreements for joint developments with leading IT, hospitality, realty and education companies, to make the hub coming up here an integrated township with facilities for live, work and play. A few of them are already on the verge of starting construction," added Joseph.