K'taka to spread IT boom to secondary, tertiary cities

The Karnataka government has set its sights on the secondary and tertiary cities for replicating the IT boom in Bangalore and create employment opportunities in hitech services.

In order to ensure that the business process outsourcing services (BPO) boom spreads to these towns and cities, the state's IT department is in talks with many captive centres to set up operations in one of the locations. The key locations being explored include Mangalore, Mysore and Hubli.

M K Shankaralinge Gowda, IT secretary, government of Karnataka, said: "We are in the process of identifying the right locations. We will then be leading a delegation to these towns and cities to set their units."

Gowda did not reveal the name of any company nor the time frame for the first such captive centre to be set up outside Bangalore.

However, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) director BV Naidu said: "The first captive centre will come up in a secondary or tertiary location within the next 10 months. We believe that it will have a cascading effect and that many other companies will follow the trend."

In order to take the tech industry beyond Bangalore and other cities like Mysore and Mangalore, the government plans to set up STPIs at Belgaum and Gulbarga in north Karnataka for providing infrastructure and support facilities to IT firms.

"We have submitted the proposals to the government for approval. We want the IT industry to expand its presence in other parts of the state for tapping the huge employment potential and avoid being Bangalore-centric," Gowda said.

Once the state government clears the proposals, the STPI will be writing to the Union IT ministry for setting up the technology parks in these two secondary cities on the lines of the one set up at Hubli recently.

"The state government will be partnering with the STPI for the proposed joint venture. The state's contribution will be in the form of Rs 1 crore as a one-time grant and the land required for locating the new technology parks. With the state-of-the-art facilities and satellite connectivity, the STPI units at Belgaum and Gulbarga will act as a catalyst in incubating start-ups and setting up IT firms, especially in the BPO segment," Naidu said.

By the time the new STPI units start functioning, the state IT department will coordinate with other state agencies to provide the required support infrastructure such as quality power, roads and transportation.

To popularise IT and its benefits among the aspiring youth even at the district level, the state IT department is gearing up to organise the 'Student Internet World' at all the 27 district headquarters in the state as part of the upcoming Bangalore 'IT.Com' event in Bangalore from November 1-5, 2004.

"The policy of the new government is to decongest Bangalore and take the benefits of the IT industry to the masses by setting up similar facilities in the secondary and tertiary cities across the state. Since the IT industry is neither power nor capital intensive, the location of STPI units in non-metros will enable existing IT firms and entrepreneurs to expand their presence and create thousands of jobs in other parts of the state with fresh investments," Gowda said.

To popularise IT and its benefits among the aspiring youth even at the district level, the state IT department is gearing up to organise the 'Student Internet World' at all the 27 district headquarters in the state as part of the upcoming Bangalore 'IT.Com' event in Bangalore from November 1-5, 2004.