Floods take toll on the annual ICT event
The Karnataka government claims it has identified about 10,000 acres around the Bangalore international airport for setting up an Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR). The project will be developed as public-private partnership project with an estimated investment of Rs 100,000 crore, state IT & BT minister Katta Subramanya Naidu told reporters here after inaugurating the 12th edition of the country’s flagship ICT event BangaloreIT.biz.
The proposed ITIR will have 60 per cent processing zone and 40 per cent non-processing zone. “We held a meeting with government of India officials recently in Bangalore. They have given us the go ahead. The central government officials have visited the spot and accepted the plan,” Naidu said.
The state government has decided to acquire dry lands in and around the Devanahalli area. Once the acquisition is done, private parties would be brought in to develop the area. The state government’s investment in the project would be minimal. The work on ITIR is expected to start by the middle of 2010, said Naidu.
As per the government of India policy paper brought out in 2008, the Centre will bear the cost of providing the supporting infrastructure to the ITIRs including broadband and train connectivity, electricity and water, whereas the developers will bear all the cost towards the development of the buildings and structures inside the ITIR.
The 12th edition of India’s premier ITC event BangaloreIT.Biz which was inaugurated here on Wednesday turned out to be a low key affair, owing to the global financial meltdown and the recent floods in the state.
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None of the high-profile dignitaries, including Union minister of state for IT and communications Gurudas Kamat and state chief minister B S Yeddyurappa turned up for the event, which has attracted about 100 exhibitors this year.
“As a sympathetic gesture to the flood-hit people in the state, we have decided to keep the BangaloreIT.Biz 2009 low-profile. We are also aware of the difficulty the IT industry has been facing due to the impact of global recession on outsourcing,” Karnataka IT & BT minister Katta Subramanya Naidu said at the inaugural function of the event. About 800 delegates, 100 exhibitors and 90 speakers from various industry verticals are participating in the three-day event.
Hardware policy by December
On the delay in the announcement of the hardware and semiconductor policy, IT & BT minister Katta Subramanya Naidu said the vision group set up for the purpose is giving the final touches to the draft policy. “The vision group, which is headed by Infosys CEO Kris Gopalakrishnan, wants to have deliberations over the policy again. As soon as we finalise this I will definitely clear it... we are going to clear it in first week of December,” the minister added.