Date:29/07/2004 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2004/07/29/stories/2004072901091900.htm

Back TN plans knowledge industry township

Our Bureau

Mr T.T. Ashok, Chairman, CII TN; Mr Vivek Harinarain, IT Secretary, Mr Ranjit Pisharoty, Convenor, IT & BPO Panel, CII-TN, and Mr Sudeep Jain, Managing Director, ELCOT, at a press conference in Chennai on Wednesday. — Bijoy Ghosh

Chennai , July 28

THE Tamil Nadu Government plans to create a knowledge industry township (KIT) on about 5,000 acres of land on the Old Mahabalipuram Road, the information technology corridor.

In the first phase, the KIT is planned between Sholinganallur and Siruseri, and in the second phase it would be extended till Tiruporur, located about 40 km from Chennai, Mr Vivek Harinarain, the State Information Technology Secretary, said.

The KIT would have both commercial buildings and residences, enabling employees to cycle or walk to their companies, he told newspersons. Various IT firms, having development centres on the Old Mahabalipuram Road, have said that one of their major expenses was on transporting employees between their facilities and the city, and vice versa. The KIT would help these companies save a lot of money, and also decongest the Chennai city, he said.

Mr Sudeep Jain, Managing Director, Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (Elcot), said that for developing KIT about 300 acres of land is available with Elcot, a State Government undertaking, behind Wipro's development centre on the Old Mahabalpuram Road.

About 220 acres of land, in the nearby locality, is in the process of getting transferred to Elcot, and this would be done in the next couple of months, he said. Another 500 acres of government land has been identified between Sholinganallur and the New Mahabalipuram Road for KIT, he said.

Further, about 120 acres of land is available on the IT corridor, opposite to Infosys' facility, he said.

According to Mr Harinarain, the State Government plans to develop Coimbatore and Hosur as hubs for information technology enables services (ITES) and BPO (business process outsourcing). Companies such as HSBC and Wipro have shown their interest in having a presence in Coimbatore, he said.

A special purpose vehicle (SPV) would be created to set up necessary infrastructure for IT companies at Coimbatore.

The IT secretary said that the State Government had sent three proposals - rural connectivity, Tamil Nadu State wide area network and e-delivery of services - to the Centre to get financial assistance under various schemes. The project cost of the State wide area network would be about Rs 40 crore, and the rest Rs 8 crore, he said.

Siruseri IT park sold out

CHENNAI: The 1,000-acre Siruseri Sipcot IT Park is fully sold out.

Xansa, an IT firm, has set up its centre in the park, and Tata Consultancy Services plans to have its centre on 75 acres of land.

Other companies to occupy the park include Polaris, Hexaware, Syntel, Cognizant and Sify, said Mr Sudeep Jain, Managing Director, Elcot.

In the second phase, a similar park would come up on about 500 acres of land, adjacent to the existing park, he said.