Brisk bookings at TIDEL Park

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, JULY 4. The 1.12-million sq. ft. TIDEL Park, the information technology park in the city being inaugurated today, will be fully occupied and committed within one or two months, with 90,000 sq. ft. lease being confirmed earlier in the day by a global consulting firm for its financial processing and outsourcing activities, according to Jones Lang LaSalle, advisers on product design and market strategy to the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO).

International names in the call centre and software business are at advanced stages of negotiations on detailed lease terms. The fast booking of the park will be an unprecedented success in terms of marketing for any project anywhere in the world, according to a release from the international real estate services and investment management firm.

Citing a study undertaken by the company, Jones Lang LaSalle says there will be demand for two developments equivalent to TIDEL Park every year for the next five years in Chennai.

Booming demand for IT infrastructure does not apply to Chennai alone.

For example, in Bangalore, the space taken up in the first half of this calendar year is equal to the space absorbed in the entire 12 months of 1999. The result has been an increase in rents by 20 to 25 per cent in the last six months. The rents are further expected to rise.

According to the firm, the timescale of conceptualisation, design and delivery of TIDEL Park is unparalleled in India and abroad.

``A development of this stature would have taken a minimum of three years from conceptualisation to delivery in any country, including western developed countries. TIDCO has done everything in two years'', the release adds.

It says many IT and IT-enabled services companies are looking more at Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune in addition to the traditionally popular locations of Bangalore and Mumbai. Decisions are made primarily on the availability of quality manpower and adequate infrastructure.

International air connections and flexibility of State governments in industrial promotion are also important factors in the locational decision. The price of real estate is low on the list of selection criteria, according to Jones Lang LaSalle.

Notwithstanding the advantages of the South, Gurgaon is now providing a strong challenge to the southern cities by providing truly international standard buildings with prices matching that of other cities, it says.

Posing the question whether the ``bubble will burst'', it quotes Mr. Michael Holland, Managing Director of the firm, as saying, ``Not as long as human resources and telecommunication issues are addressed''.

``Availability of a strong base of human resources through continuing IT training and education plus investment in the telecom infrastructure will be the key differentiating factors in the race between countries in Asia and between cities in India for supremacy in the IT sectors.

Bandwidth will play a crucial role and fibre networks will become a necessity in the future, both to increase carrying capacity and reduce costs'', according to Mr. Holland.

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Section  : Business
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