IT corridor 'master plan' in 9 months

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, JULY 5. A master plan to develop Bangalore's ``self- contained'' IT corridor will be finalised in nine months. This was announced jointly by the Bangalore Development Authority, the Government's nodal agency for planning the IT corridor, and JTC Consultants, Singapore-based consulting firm which will formulate the master plan.

The signing of a ``master plan consultancy agreement'' for the IT corridor between the BDA and JTC India was also announced here on Thursday.

Mr. Jayakar Jerome, Chairman, BDA, told presspersons that the planning would cost the State US $ 3,50,000, of which 50 per cent would be covered by BDA and the remaining by the State IT Department. He did not say what the development of the corridor would cost. The State would invite investments from both domestic and international investors for the development of the corridor, he said.

In a brief presentation on the project, Mr. Rao Munukutla, CEO, JTC India, the Indian subsidiary of JTC, said that the IT corridor covered ``the entire belt stretching from the Whitefield site (of the ITPL) to the Electronics City''. A JTC release said it would have infrastructure of its own, including amenities such as schools and colleges.

Mr. Tang Tat Kwong, Chairman, JTC India, said the master plan would seek to integrate the IT corridor with the infrastructure for IT and related industries in Bangalore.

The work on the master plan is to be carried out in two stages. The first stage, called the strategic study, comprises data collection from the field and projections for future work force, population, land requirement and so on. Most of the data collection is to be handled by the BDA, while the projections will be made by the JTC, according to the release. This stage, which includes a ``business concept study and a market study'', 80 per cent of which will be handled by the JTC, is expected to be completed in six months.

Work on the master plan which forms the second stage will start five months after the commencement of the first stage, according to the release. This stage includes a review of Electronics City and the ITPL, to study user satisfaction with respect to planning concept, design, infrastructure and utilities.

The JTC will propose the integration of the IT corridor with the arterial routes of the City, the release said.

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