The Hindu Business Line : TN to top in IT exports soon

Inaugurating the fifth edition of coimbatoreIT.com, an annual event organised by the CII, the Minister said the state had clocked a 20 per cent growth in software and hardware export during 2003-04 fiscal at Rs 8000 crore. "We should aim high and aspire to emerge on top eventually," he said and recalled the adoption of IT initiatives in several Government departments.

Reverting to the recent developments in Coimbatore, he said, "ELCOT has released an amount of Rs 7 crore for the proposed `tidal park' on the medical college grounds on Avanashi Road." The Government was eyeing the potential of tier II towns like this textile-turned IT hub, besides Tiruchi, Madurai and Hosur.

The IT industry was becoming cost-conscious and so the search was on for new resources in the form of cost reduction, motivation, talent and team work. And the perspective on outsourcing has shifted from an earlier focus on cost to one encompassing global search for resources and value addition, Mr Jayakumar said.

Delivering the special address, the State IT Secretary Mr. Vivek Harinarain, stated that money was not an issue. (He was referring to settlement of dues between the health department and IT department over the proposed `identified' land for the IT park). "We are not paying the entire sum upfront, but that does not mean that there is funds crunch".

He was confident that with the establishment of the IT park and better infrastructural facilities, Coimbatore would see a quantum jump in IT exports within a short time. (During 2003-04, the IT exports from this region had stood at Rs 85 crore.)

Mr Harinarain expected the State's IT exports to reach Bangalore levels within the next 5 to 6 years.

He was also optimistic about the prospects of the world biotechnology park being set up in the State. `The State Government will ensure that no stone is left unturned in order to bring this biotechnology park here,' he added.

Mr. T.T. Ashok, Chairman, CII (TN State Council), said the industry was only asking for good bandwidth and cent per cent digital exchange network to improve the performance and move up the value chain. "Tamil Nadu has contributed to 17 per cent of the country's IT exports and we are targeting at US $ 2 billion by March 2005."

According to him, the areas for improvement included infrastructural developments in roads, airports etc.

He said CII was partnering with the State Government to study the potential of Hosur as the next big IT destination.

Mr. Ashok Soota, Chairman and CEO of Mindtree Consulting (P) Ltd, said there were more opportunities than challenges or problems in the present day IT scenario. The challenges though, were more local or India-specific, arising out of business or policy issues while opportunities were technology-driven.

"India has missed the manufacturing bus, but this need not be an irrevocable loss. As per McKinsey, the first wave of global outsourcing in manufacturing was commodity, mass manufacture. Next wave will be high tech and design-led manufacturing. This will be a trillio-dollar market in the next 10 years. India's IT skills can lead to an upsurge and revival in its manufacturing industries," he said.

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