All set for IT.in

Digital pavilion to be star of mega IT event
Deccan Herald

The four-llane Bangalore-Mysore expressway will be operational from the first week of October to coincide with the event.

Twelve countries, 41 companies have registered for the annual flagship IT event ‘BangaloreIT.in’ in Bangalore in October.

BangaloreIT.in will be held from October 26 to 29, 2005 this year. China, Taiwan, Germany, Australia, US, UK, Bavaria and Spain are among the countries that are expected to log in at this year’s IT conclave.

A digital pavilion showcasing various future technologies that run the various gadgets and security systems will be the new attraction at the four-day fair-cum-meet, State IT & BT Secretary M K Shankaralinge Gowda told reporters here on Thursday.

The four-lane Bangalore-Mysore expressway will become operational in the first week of October, to coincide with the mega event, Mr Gowda said.

According to the IT Secretary, the 11 km driveway on stilts between Central Silk Board and Electronic City stretch would also be a reality soon to ease the smooth flow of traffic in that stretch.

Land acquisition

Mr Gowda said that the State government has notified for land acquisition near the proposed International Airport at Devanahalli for the ambitious Hardware Park.

In this regard, he added that the State Industrial Area Development Board has been asked to acquire the necessary land and it is likely that around 1,000 acres would be acquired for the purpose. The State government and Airports Authority of India would be signing a Memorandum of Understanding on September 5 for the development of Mysore airport.

According to Software Technology Parks of India-Bangalore Director B V Naidu, one of the seminar sessions will be exclusively focused upon Tier-II cities in the State to take IT beyond Bangalore.

Showcase

The idea behind it, he said, would be to showcase the strengths in these cities and promote them as potential destinations for prospective IT companies wanting to set up shop in the State.

According to Mr Naidu, following the success of the Incubation Centre concept in Mangalore which saw as many as seven companies making the grade, it has been proposed to set up similar Incubation Centres in Mysore as well as Gulbarga.

IT exports

Pointing out that Karnataka as on date boasts of as many as 1,585 IT and ITES companies, Mr Gowda said while IT exports from Karnataka as on date stood at Rs 27,600 crore as against Rs 18,100 crore registered during the last IT.com,

Chennai has reported Rs 10,000 crore and Hyderabad Rs 9,000 crore.

Similarly, Mr Naidu observed that while at the time of last IT.com, 168 new companies had set up shop in the State, today, nearly 265 companies have registered so far. The cumulative investment from these new companies was to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore, he added.