Hardware park to be set up in Chandigarh soon

The Chandigarh administration is planning to set up a hardware park here.

"The UT (Union Territory) administration aims to position Chandigarh in the forefront of the knowledge revolution in the country. Phase II of Chandigarh Technology Park (CTP) is shortly to get SEZ status and the city will soon have an IT hardware park also," said MS Brar, director (IT), UT administration.

He was speaking at an interactive session on "Insights to the IT Policy and STPI (Software Technology Park of India)/SEZ plans of the Chandigarh Administration," organised under the IT panel of the CII's Chandigarh council.

The first phase of the CTP has already been given SEZ status. The city has emerged as a hot destination for IT/ITES services, with firms like Infosys, IBM Daksh, Virsa, and Outerbay having started operations here at Rajiv Gandhi Technology Park (RGCTP), the country's most expensive IT park, and several others like Wipro, Tech Mahindra, e-Sys, Bharti Televentures, and Patni Computers also have plans to begin operations.

He added that WiMax, the latest broadband wireless technology that would make the entire city wireless enabled, is also on the cards

According to sources, some of the big players have already shown interest in the newly proposed hardware park.

He also said, "The IT hardware park will be spread over 150 acres of land. It will not be located at a single place but will be scattered."

In terms of software exports, the cities of Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula are expecting a combined annual turnover of about Rs 1,000 crore in three years. Already Chandigarh (including Mohali) recorded an IT export turnover of Rs 416 crore. in the last financial year.

Commenting on the newly formed IT panel, Chairman, CII Chandigarh Council and Managing Director, IDS Infotech, Partap Krishan Aggarwal, said the panel aimed to work closely with the administration to enhance the growth of IT industries in Chandigarh.

In the first phase of the CTP, Infosys Technologies Ltd was allotted 30 acres as the main anchor company. The second phase of the park is spread over 250 acres. Out of this, 125 acres is meant for IT/ITES companies and the remaining area for a technology habitat.

In the second phase, Wipro, as an anchor company, has been allotted 30 acres while Bharti Tele-Ventures has been allotted five acres, e-Sys six acres, and Tech Mahindra 10 acres.