The Hindu Business Line : Strong AP contingent to take part in Bangalore IT.in

A STRONG contingent headed by the State Secretary for Information Technology and Communication, Ms Ratna Prabha, from Andhra Pradesh will take part in the Bangalore IT.in, seeking to woo some of the companies based in Bangalore to locate their centres in the State.

The Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajashekhara Reddy, is likely to be part of the CEO conclave to be hosted by the State.

Speaking at a meeting hosted by the Karnataka State Secretary for IT and BT, Mr Shankaralinge Gowda, and the Director of Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), Mr B.V. Naidu, Ms Prabha said that many multinationals are looking at more than one centre to expand their operations, and Hyderabad would provide the necessary infrastructure to locate their new centres.

Unlike the general competitive environment which comes through an event like this, where exports are compared, this was a joint press conference where they collectively expressed that there was a large market out there to woo companies to both these major IT centres.

Mr Gowda said that apart from providing a platform and building the brand Bangalore, the event has helped in expanding the IT exports from $500 million in 1998 to $6 billion. This year, the overall exports are projected to touch Rs 38,000 crore up from Rs 28,000 crore.

The important aspect for the common man would be the participation of children in the rural quiz hosted in partnership with TCS.

About 100,000 children are expected to take part in this event, he said.

Ms Prabha took this opportunity to invite the Karnataka officials to Hyderabad during the Gitex slated for January 2006, the flagship IT event of the State Government.

Referring to concerns of IT sector about infrastructure, the STPI Director said that the Karnataka Government has agreed to address these issues on a priority and that they have been sorted out.

"It would not be possible to quantify how much trade would take place during the event. But what is quantifiable is the progress IT sector has made in Karnataka.

"In fact, apart from Bangalore, which continues to see new companies, Mangalore is expected to achieve about Rs 800 crore turnover this year followed by Rs 400 crore from Mysore," Mr Gowda added.

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