Investors in the information technology (IT) sector who were going slow on their proposed projects in the state due to the global economic meltdown have been let down by the lack of resolve of the state government even after the signs of recovery in the economy and revival in demand for the IT sector.
The state IT department has almost been in a moribund state for the past few months and has not shown any initiative to push ahead these projects.
"The IT department has been more or less in a sleepy mode for the past 4-5 months and hardly any activity has been undertaken for the development of the sector.
No review meeting is held on the status of the proposed IT projects in these 4-5 months, Now doubts are being cast about the future of these projects given the lack of the department's will to expedite these projects which had promised to position Bhubaneswar as one of the progressive IT destinations in the country”, an official source told Business Standard.
On the face of it, the city is poised to drive the next phase of IT growth in the country with the presence of the four IT bigwigs- Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, Wipro and Mahindra Satyam (formerly Satyam Computers) which had also announced plans to expand their operations further.
Add to this, there are a rush of investment proposals from the other prominent IT investors including MindTree Consulting, Genpact, DLF, Raheja Corporation, Zensar Technologies, ICICI Bank and the Kolkata-based Apeejay Surrendra Group.
However, the lack of resolve by the developers as well as the state IT department in expediting these projects seems to have pushed them into the back burner.
With most of the IT investors are noncommittal on commencement of construction work for their projects, a few players have passed the buck on the state government for its lukewarm approach in developing the infrastructure needed for the projects.
The only consolation for the state IT sector in the recent past was the inauguration of the third centre of the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) last month at Ambapua on the outskirts of Berhampur.
Going by the scale of IT investments in the city, DLF leads the pack with Rs 1000 crore which it had committed for setting up the DLF Infopark project in the city.
DLF which had announced to develop the project under the STPI scheme had sought the state government's approval to earmark a greater area for commercial development.
However, the state government is yet to take a decision on the matter.
IT firms including the top companies like Infosys, Wipro and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) as well as the SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) have invested Rs 297.78 crore so far on their operations in Orissa.
The state has registered software exports of Rs 843 crore, Rs 1171 crore and Rs 1198 crore in 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10 respectively.
