With IT players at its doors, Chandigarh to auction sites in IT Park

IT sector emerges largest employer in organised sector in the Union Territory with 35,000 skilled workers

As the IT companies have been making a beeline for commencing operations in Chandigarh, the Department of Information Technology, Union Territory of Chandigarh may soon auction land in the phase two of the Rajiv Gandhi Information Technology Park.

Sources close to the development informed that 40 acre of land is available in the phase two of the RGIT Park and the final decision on reserve price of land is awaited.

The decision regarding the reserve price is to be taken by the Estate Office and the Finance Department. As there are dozens of queries from the IT companies every week, the decision is expected soon.

The Union Territory of Chandigarh has a population of close to 10 lakh and the IT sector employs about 35,000 professionals. This is the largest employer in the organised sector in Chandigarh, a city which had job openings mainly in government sector ten years back.

For a city that was nowhere on the IT map of India 10 years back, clocked an export turnover of Rs 2,200 cr in 2014-15 .

There is no dearth of talent pool as Chandigarh and its surroundings have excellent educational institutes, told head of an IT unit. Large number of IT professionals from Chandigarh and engaged in Banglore and Pune are keen to come to Chandigarh due to pollution free environment, proximity to hills and state-of-the-art infrastructure but do not find suitable openings.

If we have more companies, it will not only spur the employment opportunities but also help bring the pay packages in the bracket being offered in bigger cities, he added. Once the IIT Ropar, shifts to its actual campus (presently operating out of a make shift building) may also help attract more companies here.

Infosys Technologies, the anchor company in Chandigarh IT Park, has over 6000 IT professionals at its Chandigarh campus and has scope to add more. Bharti Airtel and Tech Mahindra are the other two big players in Chandigarh. As many as 70 small companies with a strength of 15,000 software professionals are operating out of the DLF building.

Infosys, of late, announced to set up a 25,000 seat campus in an area of 50 acre in Mohali. The construction may commence this month and the phase one with 5,000 seats is projected to kick start in early 2017.

The Chandigarh Tri city (Chandigarh, Mohali, Panchkula) have a greater potential to develop IT sector in north. The lack of articulation on part of the policy makers and leaders could not fetch the investment available in our country with the big IT companies, told a senior official in an IT outfit.

In the master plan of Chandigarh the IT Park has three phases with 123 acre (phase 1), 228 acre (phase 2) and 272 acre (phase 3).

The land acquisition of phase three was scrapped by the Supreme Court of India in year 2012 when farmers moved the court. Since the land is reserved for the IT Park in the master plan, sooner or later it would be used for the development of IT.

Chandigarh IT companies recorded a turnover of about Rs 3,000 cr in the FY 2014-15 which may get a boost with the proliferation of smart phones, e-commerce, mobile apps and digitisation of government records.