In FY09, TN did IT better

In FY09, TN did IT better

August 20th, 2009
By Our Correspondent

Bengaluru, Aug. 19: The debate on whether Bengaluru is losing its ‘IT capital’ tag to other cities is a never-ending one. Now, a CII quarterly update on the IT-ITES sector reveals that the global economic slump may have helped neighbouring Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh catch up with the state in software exports.
According to figures quoted by CII, in the year ended March 2009, Karnataka’s software exports grew by just 15 per cent to Rs 675 billion, while Tamil Nadu’s jumped by almost double that at 29 per cent to Rs 366.8 billion and even Satyam-scam hit Andhra Pradesh’s software exports grew 24.5 per cent to Rs 325 billion.
Karnataka’s alibi: Its growth comes from a much larger base, and so it might be the elephant right now. It is much easier to grow faster when you are small, so Chennai and Hyderabad may right now look like tigers.
While that may be true, the CII update for the southern region also says Karnataka is lagging behind in IT-ITES project investments, too.
It is Tamil Nadu, again, that has done a much better job of attracting investments, through a combination of conducive IT policy, cost-effective real estate, good telecommunications infrastructure and, crucially, availability of power.
Tamil Nadu, says the update, had 88 project investments, while Karnataka has 57.
Of the 57, 11 have been completed, 4 have been deferred, 26 are in the planning stage, and 16 are under execution.
In Tamil Nadu, 38 have been completed, and 29 are under execution.
Karnataka’s neighbour is also readying more tier-2 and tier-3 cities that can help decongest cities and create inclusive employment.
Tamil Nadu has proposed IT SEZs in Tirunelveli, Salem, Madurai, Trichy, Coimbatore and Hosur. Karnataka has software technology parks at Mysore, Hubli, and Mangalore.