INFOTECH
Chennai preferred destination for software firms
The proximity to residential areas, availability of skilled professionals, comparatively lower costs, reliable infrastructure, the e-governance steps and the initiatives in the field of education have helped Chennai to emerge as a key player in sourcing IT skills.

Tidel Park Ltd., a state promoted joint venture between Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) and Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT) has appointed CB Richard Ellis as a consultant to study the feasibility of the Tidel Park-II project from the market and financial points of view. CB Richard Ellis will also determine the optimal size, location and positioning of the project.

The consultants are optimistic about the success of the Tidel Park-II project at Chennai. The initial results show that the average growth rate of a software firm is more than 50 per cent and majority of the present occupants of Tidel Park-I would relocate or have expansion plans.

Most of the present occupants have expressed a positive response to expand to a multi-user facility. Chennai has also been identified as an appropriate destination for companies with high band-width requirements.

The space employee ratio is approximately 100. The facility preferences for the floor area allocated per employee including common facilities has been identified as 75 to 100 sq. feet. The parking requirements are of one car per 500 sq. feet of office space, bandwidth requirement of 128 to 256 kbps (kilobits per second) for software development and services, two mega bits per second (mbps) for medical transcription and other net intensive operations, as per the CBRE study of the market dynamics vis-a-vis the IT and real estate sector. 

Kerala plans novel IT incubation centre

Kerala is planning an IT incubation centre, aimed at promoting small scale and home grown IT ventures. The centre, to be based at Kochi, will also have an IT enabled services habitat where small and medium scale units can set up base. 

The new facility is expected to help in broad-basing the IT industry in Kerala which has so far been largely Thiruvananthapuram-centric. The incubation centre-cum-IT services habitat would also be supported by the venture capital fund floated by the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation Ltd. with an initial corpus of Rs.20 crore. 

The centre, involving an initial investment of Rs.1 crore, is likely to incubate a couple of units when it opens by March, and aims to incubate a maximum of 10 units at a time. 

Special Economic Zone planned in Madhya Pradesh
The government of Madhya Pradesh has decided to set up a Special Economic Zone in Indore to invite private participation in the field of information technology (IT), Additional Manager, MPSIDC, Shri Shailendra Singh said. 

The state has invited industrial units in Delhi to take up the opportunity to shift to MP. MPSIDC has set up Audyogik Sahayata Kendras to provide information and support to these units and also to act as a one stop-shop for giving clearances to the units.

The new economic development policy will give excellent opportunities for investment in the fields of infrastructure, IT education, pharmaceuticals, engineering, warehousing etc.

E-governance 

The Himachal Pradesh government has taken steps to usher in e-governance. It has taken up implementation of the LOKMITRA project on a pilot basis in Hamirpur district. The project envisages setting up a district wide intranet linked to the Internet with servers at district headquarters, connecting 25 citizen information booths located at various panchayats.

HP is using VSAT and OFC to provide better connectivity. The information booths will be equipped with a computer and phone lines and will be operated by private parties. 

Greater Noida sets up base for IT firms

Greater Noida has invited private companies to set up base in the futuristic township in software and information technology coming up 25 km from the National Capital.

With the emergence of Noida as a major software hub in the country it is felt that there is a lot of scope for call centres, e-commerce ventures and other IT-enabled services.

GNIDA has offered time bound development of basic infrastructure in the city and ensures a minimum standard of facilities in the area.

In keeping with the "cluster approach" of industrial development being followed by the state government, GNIDA has offered to allocate a separate chunk of fully developed land for software companies and ensure all industry-specific facilities within the complex.

Companies interested in setting up base in the township would be allotted space tailored to their individual specifications alongwith infrastructure facilities like uninterrupted power supply, adequate water and proper sewage systems.