Industry has envisioned the Lucknow-Kanpur corridor developing as an IT-BPO hub in the coming years, even as it sought a pro-active policy stance of the Uttar Pradesh government to make it a reality.
The corridor boasts an international airport; the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow (IIM-L); the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K); quality health, banking, insurance and other services industry infrastructure; besides low cost of living compared to other hubs like Noida and Gurgaon.
Lucknow-Kanpur, however, was losing its demographical and historical advantages to similar corridors in India with regard to development as in IT-BPO hub, experts said at a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) session on the topic. UP infrastructure and industrial development commissioner (IIDC) Anoop Mishra said there was a strong case for the corridor to develop as an IT hub and conceded it was vital to rope in a strategic/anchor investor.
He, however, said it would not be the best option for the government to develop an IT Special Economic Zone (SEZ). Mishra exhorted industry to take the initiative and develop an IT SEZ in Lucknow, while promising all government help. In his keynote address, IIT-K director Sanjay Dhande said the rest of the country was moving very fast in developing their Tier-II towns into hubs of economic activities. “It is time a special purpose vehicle (SPV) is created or an authority constituted with an action plan for developing Lucknow-Kanpur as an IT hub. When there is a dedicated agency, the probability of positive outcome would be greater,” he added.
He said while the educational quotient of Uttar Pradesh was greater than many other states, including Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, the state was better off in exporting human resources.
