Tamil Nadu unveils ITeS policy

Allots combined area of 180 acres to Wipro, Satyam and HCL Tech for development centres

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Thursday unveiled the state's Information Technology-enabled Services (ITeS) Policy 2005 which seeks to cut red tape and make students employable by the industry.

Jayalalithaa, who delivered the inaugural address at the 'Connect 2005' event organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), pointed out that IT and ITeS sectors had recorded fast-paced growth in Tamil Nadu.

The state government's measures are meant to consolidate the growth registered by these sectors. She said that the government had recently sent a delegation to Taiwan to tap the interest the hardware industry there has in setting up operations in India.

In April this year, the global leader in mobile handsets, Nokia, had announced that it would set up a manufacturing facility outside Chennai. This is Nokia's first such facility in India.

The software exports from Tamil Nadu have grown by 244 per cent in the last four years. It stood at Rs 10,703 crore in 2004-5, as compared to Rs 3,115 crore in 2000-01.

The growth in exports of ITeS industry on a stand-alone basis was faster. From Rs 260 crore in 2000-01, it went up to Rs 1,636 crore in 2004-05.

Jayalalithaa said a new software company sets up shop every three days in the state. The number of software units in Tamil Nadu had grown to 1,266 in 2004-05, she added.

The chief minister cited statistics on real estate development to give a sense of the upbeat expectations about the IT and ITeS sectors.

About 5.2 million square feet of space for the IT industry is under construction. There are more than 40 IT parks that are coming up in the public and private sector. About 11.8 million square feet of space is on the drawing board.

The ITeS policy flows from the state's IT Policy 2002. Some of the key features are:

The state government will declare ITeS as an essential service under an appropriate Act.

The state government's Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT) shall be a single window agency for IT and ITeS.

Incentives will be offered at the government's discretion for big ticket investments (over Rs 300 crore at one go).

Efforts would be made by government bodies to work with the education system to make students employable by the industry.

Land documents handed over to IT majors

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Thursday handed over land documents to three IT majors, Wipro, Satyam Computer Services and HCL Tech, for expansion of their Chennai operations.

Wipro bought 80 acres, while Satyam and HCL Tech bought 50 acres each.

Satyam's co-founder and CEO B Rama Raju, said once a development centre was up in the newly acquired land, the headcount there could go up to 5,000 people.

Satyam currently has a headcount of 3,300 in Chennai, which makes the city its second biggest centre after Hyderabad. The land acquired by the three IT companies falls under the Knowledge Industry Township (KIT) scheme. The KIT is expected to be spread over 5,000 acres along the IT corridor that runs from southern boundary of Chennai to Siruseri.

Jayalalithaa said that plans were afoot to set up a second IT park in Siruseri as there was no more space in the first park. The government has also moved to set up an IT park in Coimbatore.