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.
|