Small cities
emerging as new IT hubs
Metros are the nerve centres of India. Wide roads,
tall buildings, 24x7 power and water supplies, great
lifestyle — few can resist the trappings of a
big city like Mumbai or Bangalore. They attract MNCs
and labourers alike. But not everybody is being lured
by the city lights. In fact, a lot of companies, now
prefer to script their growth stories from tier II-III
cities. The slow-paced life in Indore or Kochi attracts
them more.
What’s more, many such start-ups have also managed
to make a splash globally. Now they are big names. Apart
from IT companies which are branching out to smaller
cities, there are those which set up first base there
and then spread their wings. Impetus Technologies ,
for example, was founded in 1991 in Indore which remains
the base of their India operations.
The IT engineering company’s CEO Praveen Kankariya
explains: ‘‘ I hail from the city. Though
I have offices in six cities across the world, Indore
is still my biggest facility with four development centres
and 650 plus engineers.’’ Kankariaya , who
lives in Silicon Valley, plans to develop a stateof-the-art
campus in his hometown.
Thiruvanathapuram-based IBS Software Services has a
similar story. The company, launched in Technopark campus
in 1997, is an MNC today, with 11 centres around the
world. ‘‘ The cost-effectiveness , availability
of a large pool of qualified people in the state and
high quality of life in one of the most beautiful states
in India were very encouraging for us to start our business
here,’’ says Anthony Joseph, senior VP and
global HR head.
The company has development centres in London, Washington,
Kochi and Thiruvanathapuram . Similarly, global IT giant
CSC has an Indore base. ‘‘ There were several
advantages in being there — a cooperative state
government, availability of resources and the willingness
of senior and middle management to relocate,’’
says Padmaja Krishnan, director , marketing, planning
and research.
Other top IT companies too are exploring opportunities
in tier II-III cities. Zensar Technologies in Hyderabad
and Persistent Systems in Pune are just two of them.
Nasscom data shows software exports from tier II and
III cities have grown dramatically from a mere 5% a
couple years ago to 15-18 % now. It’s expected
to go up to 25-30 % by 2010. What’s more, these
new hotspots are expected to employ 30% of the projected
strength of 850,000 IT professionals and 1.4 million
ITeS professionals by 2010.
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