Kerala is on the cusp of immense opportunities owing to the provision in the draft National IT Policy, 2011, to focus more on tier-II and tier-III cities, say industry experts.
“Major IT hubs like Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune and NCR, which account for nearly 90 per cent of India's IT industry, are near-saturated. They face infrastructural challenges and human resource constraints for further expansion. Hence Indian IT and ITES industry has to shift focus to tier-II and tier-III cities,” the draft policy observes.
A. Shajahan, Director, Kerala State IT Mission, told The Hindu that the points in the draft national IT policy which would benefit the State would be incorporated in the IT policy of the State, which itself was in the draft stage.
Baju George, Managing Director, SmartCity (India), said a window of opportunity had opened before Kerala with the Telangana unrest and infrastructure congestion driving investors away from Hyderabad and Tamil Nadu respectively.
Joseph C. Mathew, IT Adviser to the former Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan, said that the draft national IT policy had only confirmed the studies conducted by agencies like NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Services Companies). Mr. Mathew said Kerala enjoyed cost advantage with major IT hubs witnessing spiralling operating costs — salary hike was mandatory every six months. He said that availability of both Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and non-SEZ space across the State, absence of a gaping urban-rural divide, and uniform distribution of educated workforce, further drove home that advantage.
Infopark Chief Executive Officer Gigo Joseph said that the allure of tier-II and tier-III cities would fuel demand for the expansions of Infopark and Technopark. He felt that the proposal in the draft policy to create a pool of 10 million additional skilled manpower in Information and Communication was also in the State's favour. “About 30,000 engineering graduates pass out of our engineering colleges every year, of which a good number can be converted into assets for the IT sector,” he said.
Anoop P. Ambika, secretary of the Group of Technology Companies, said that with uncertainty looming over IT exports to Europe in view of the precarious financial situation there, the domestic market should be leveraged. For that to happen, small and medium companies should be given the opportunity to participate in the e-governance initiatives of the government. “An expert committee should be set up to screen the potential of such companies,” he said.
Arun Balachandran, CEO of Innovation Lab, a business incubation centre, argues that infrastructure facilities in Kerala are at par with any tier-I city. “Ours is a virgin market and we have the connectivity, talent pool, and space to offer. Besides, an improved ecosystem is being increasingly provided for the start-ups to flourish,” he observed.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): M. P. Praveen
Quelle/Source: The Hindu, 12.10.2011
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