KITCO India

This article is about the Indian technical consultancy. For the Canadian metal dealing company, see Kitco.

Kitco is an Indian public sector engineering consultancy organisation headquartered in Kochi, Kerala. It is the first technical consultancy organisation (TCO) in India established by the government in 1972.

History

Formerly known as Kerala Industrial and Technical Consultancy Organisation, KITCO Ltd was set up in 1972 to speed up the industrialization process in the state of Kerala. It was with initiative of IDBI and Kerala Government that the organisation was established. The success of KITCO experiment later prompted the central government to set up similar TCOs in many other states also. That was how APTICO (Andhra Pradesh), ITCOT (Tamil Nadu), MITCON (Maharashtra), NITCON (Punjab), GTCO (Gujarat) etc. came into being. The company with headquarters at Kochi, Kerala, is considered as a Central public Sector Organisation with 85% share holding by Central Sector Institutions and is subjected to Govt. audit. Today, 49% of the shares of the company are held by Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) is the Chief Executive and a Board of Directors nominated by the shareholders advises the CMD in policy matters. KITCO was established primarily to assist public sector banks operating in Kerala state to assess the proposals to start small scale industries, submitted to the Bank with a view to get financial assistance. In the initial years, the organisation studied the project reports, prepared feasibility reports for the banks and also prepared project reports for new entrepreneurs. Over the years, the environment and market in which KITCO operated underwent material changes. The overall industrial climate in the state had passed through many vicissitudes; the new entrepreneurs, many of whom had the benefit of training of EDPs conducted by KITCO, developed the competence to make their own project reports acceptable to banks; and banks had further strengthened their own internal competence to identify and appraise the viability of projects. On its part, the state government had also begun to look for professional support from KITCO for larger projects/assignments. Overall, these developments helped facilitate a qualitative shift in the status of KITCO, from the level of consultants for SMEs to that of a multi-functional and multi-disciplinary organisation offering a wide range of services to the industrial and infrastructure sector, and to a wider spectrum of clientele including those outside the geographic boundaries of Kerala.

Divisions

The eleven arms of the organisation are:

  1. Aviation Infrastructure & Mobility Hubs
  2. Environmental Engineering
  3. Infrastructure Development & Urban Planning
  4. Process Engineering
  5. Ports & Logistics
  6. Tourism, Leisure & Sports
  7. Management Consultancy & Financial Services
  8. Human Resources Development(HRD)
  9. IT services
  10. Technical Services

The Detailed Engineering of large scale projects is the core are of competency of KITCO. Of the 10 divisions, the first seven take up implementation of such projects in their respective fields right from the concept stage up to commissioning. Each of the divisions offer comprehensive services in preparation of detailed project reports, planning, surveying, design, estimating, tendering and managing of the projects. The Architectural, Civil, Structural, Electrical, Mechanical, HVAC, Fire-Fighting, Interior Designing aspects of the projects are handled by Consultants & Engineers who are experts in the respective fields. The Water supply and Effluent treatment & Waste disposal tasks of all the projects are handled by the Environmental Engineering Department. Techno-Economic Feasibility Studies, Preparation of Master Plans etc. of projects too are conducted by all the seven divisions. The Technical consultancy department take care of energy audits, asset valuation, appraisal & revival report preparation, techno-economic and socio-economic studies, rehabilitation studies for sick enterprises etc. The HRD department organizes classes & training for new entrepreneurs, conduct skill development classes for and on behalf or local self-government bodies, take up Information, Education & Communication (IEC) campaign of various departments of both state and central governments and do certification of technical courses conducted by various institutions. The Management Consultancy & Financial Services wing prepares project reports, techno economic feasibility reports etc. and provide consultancy services for loan syndication and transaction advisory services. The IT Division helps to define and implement the IT strategy for organizations and align them with the vital components of the organizational ecosystem comprising stakeholders, employees, partners and customers.

Projects

So far, the Organization has provided consultancy services for more than 600 projects across the Nation as well as outside the country. The projects include airports, large industrial plants, industrial parks, special economic zones, hotels, resorts, roads & bridges.

It was with KITCO as total engineering consultants that the following 'first-time-in-India' projects were implemented

  1. Cochin International Airport,[1] Kochi, Kerala- The first green field airport in India to be built under Public-Private-Participation (PPP) scheme.[2][3][4] The airport started operations in 1999.
  2. The Marina at Bolghatty Island, Kochi, Kerala- It is the first structurally designed Marina[5][6] (harbour for yachts) in India.Inaugurated in 2010.
  3. Spices Parks: The unique project empowers spices farmers by bringing in storage, value-addition, quality improvement and marketing of spices under one roof. The first spices park was inaugurated Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh in 2009 February and the second one at Puttady,[7] Idukki, Kerala in 2011 February. The third park that was inaugurated at Jodhpur, Rajasthan, on April 7, 2012, was the first seed spices park in the country with private and public partnership. Now four more parks are in different stages of implementation in four states.
  4. Titanium Sponge Plant,[8] Kerala Minerals And Metals Ltd, Kollam, Kerala: The first commercial plant in India to manufacture Titanium metal. The project is funded by Indian Space Research Organisation(ISR0).
  5. Mobility Hub, Vyttila, Kochi: It is the first integrated terminal project in India having road, water and rail transportation modes converging at one place. The first phase was

inaugurated on Feb 26, 2011.

  1. kannur international airport

References

  1. ↑ Consultants/Partners, Cochin International Airport Ltd
  2. ↑ Public Private Partnership in Airport Development – Governance and Risk Management Implications from Cochin International Airport Ltd
  3. ↑ Governance issues in airport development: Learnings from Cochin International Airport Ltd
  4. ↑ Public Private Partnership (PPP) in Airport Infrastructure
  5. ↑ India’s 1st Marina Launched In Kochi
  6. ↑ India's first international marina in Kochi
  7. ↑ http://www.commodityonline.com/news/Keralas-Spices-Park-to-spruce-up-spice-exports-35850-3-1.html
  8. ↑ Titanium sponge plant to open in India in July

External links

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