Efforts to woo IT firms showing results

Efforts to woo IT firms showing results

Girish Pattanashetti - The Hindu

Of the 1.72 lakh sq ft of space in the IT Park in Hubli, 95,000 sq ft has been rented out

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IT Park was inaugurated on September 19, 2002

Space available at a reduced price of Rs. 9 per sq ft

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Promoting IT: A view of the Information Technology Park in Hubli.

HUBLI: Efforts made to attract IT and ITES companies to the Information Technology (IT) Park here, which was launched six years ago, are showing results.

Of the 1.72 lakh sq ft of space at the park, 95,000 sq ft has been rented out. Companies have occupied 75,000 sq ft.

The Manager of Karnataka State Electronics Development Corporation Limited (KEONICS), H. Devanand, who is in-charge of the park, told The Hindu that 26,000 sq ft of space had been rented by various IT and ITES companies from Hubli and Bangalore since past month. This was an encouraging sign, he said.

Augen Technology Software Solutions, Bangalore, had rented out 16,000 sq. ft, followed by Viz-tek BPO Solutions Private Limited (4,000 sq ft), Intense Software Solutions (India) Private Limited of Hubli (3,000 sq ft), Akshateck Solutions Private Limited of Bangalore (2,500 sq ft) and Squteck Private Limited of Hubli (400 sq ft), he said.

In touch

“We have been in touch with the companies which had evinced interest in the park during the IT Investors’ Meet held here two years ago. Our follow up efforts are finally getting results,” Mr. Devanand said.

The park was inaugurated on September 19, 2002, by the then Union Minister for Information Technology Pramod Mahajan. However, contrary to the hype surrounding its inauguration, the park remained a showpiece with major companies reluctant to open shop there.

In the first four years, only Tata Tele Services and RMS Technologies set up their units at the park and 1.6 lakh sq ft of space remained unutilised.

Though a state of the art campus of International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT-B) was set up at the park at a cost of Rs. 2.5 crore, it was not utilised.

In August 2004, M.K. Shankarlinge Gowda, the then Secretary to the Government, Department of Information Technology and Biotechnology, held a meeting in Hubli with representatives of educational institutions, the chamber of commerce and some engineers owning software firms on the steps to be taken to breathe life into the park.

But that did not bring any change.

“Destination Hubli” held in Bangalore in 2004 did not attract IT companies to Hubli.

In 2006, the district administration organised “IT Investors’ Meet” in Hubli and the Government announced a reduction in the park rent to woo software companies to Hubli.

The meet succeeded in attracting IT and ITES companies to the twin cities, which wanted separate land for establishing their units.

Though the participants visited the park and seemed impressed by the facilities, they did not respond.

And now, persistent follow up work seems to have resulted in companies coming to the park.

Perhaps, one of the reasons for the IT companies coming here now is the recent listing of Hubli as one of the top 50 cities in the country with a potential of becoming IT destination, by NASSCOM.

Report

“There are chances that the report might have made some impact and naturally it is likely to influence other companies,” Mr. Devanand said.

Space is available at the park at a reduced price of Rs. 9 per sq ft for companies registered with STPI, which rent a minimum space of 2,500 sq ft.

For other IT companies, it ranges between Rs. 16 and 20 per sq ft depending on the space availability on the ground floor or on other floors.

Meanwhile, after remaining inactive for four-and-a-half years, the International Institute of Information Technology Hubli-Dharwad (IIIT-HD) has become functional with the launching of two finishing school programmes by IIIT-Bangalore.

The two programmes are being offered to students of north Karnataka.

Official apathy blamed for delay in work at Aryabhata Tech Park

Official apathy blamed for delay in work at Aryabhata Tech Park

Staff Correspondent - The Hindu

Building permission not being issued to IT companies: Shettar

For students: Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Jagadish Shettar inaugurating ‘CET Catalyst Regular’, a satellite-based interactive training programme, at the Information Technology Park in Hubli on Sunday.

HUBLI: Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Jagadish Shettar has taken strong exception to “official apathy” which he said has hindered work at the Aryabhata Tech Park in Hubli.

He was inaugurating the “CET Catalyst Regular”, a satellite-based coaching programme for students appearing for entrance tests for admission to professional courses, at the Information Technology Park here on Sunday.

Gumbi Software and Edusource Consultance Services (ECS) have, for the first time in the State, designed the interactive live training programme.

Although the State Government had allotted 26 acres of land to information technology (IT) and IT-enabled services companies at the Aryabhata Tech Park, between Hubli and Dharwad, the municipal corporation authorities were delaying the work there, Mr. Shettar said.

Some of the IT companies which had been allotted land at the park had performed “bhoomi puja”. However, they were unable start construction because they were not being issued building permission, he said.

Mr. Shettar said he had taken up the issue with the authorities concerned, and he would be forced to take it up with the Government if the official apathy continued.

The former president of the Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry Madan Desai, who heads the Land Allotment Committee for the tech park, said the committee had proposed to allot another 10 acres of land at the park to six IT companies.

H. Devanand, Manager of Karnataka State Electronics Development Corporation Ltd., said that in the last few months five companies had taken 26,000 sqft of space in the IT Park and termed it an encouraging development.

Managing Director of Gumbi Software Harsha Mahabala, Chief Administrative Officer of ECS K.K. Bhat, General Manager of BSNL Dharwad Telecom District S.S. Sindagi and Sadashiva Bhat were present. Under the programme, experts from Boscoss Publication will teach lessons from the Edusource Studio in Mangalore and students can interact with them with the help of special software designed by Gumbi Software.

HC Bench spurs realty boom

HC Bench spurs realty boom

Vincent D’Souza | TNN

MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

Hubli: Belur, 10 km away from Dharwad off the Pune-Bangalore Highway, was a sleepy village a few years ago.
   Today, it is one of the most happening places in the state in terms of property value, though it still comes under the purview of Neeralkatti gram panchayat. Thanks to the High Court Circuit Bench, situated near Walmi, that has boosted land prices and house rentals in the vicinity.
   Land prices in Neeralkatti, Mammigatti, Tegur and other villages alongside the National Highway — falling under the radius of 8 to 10 km — have shot up considerably in recent months.
   “An acre of land abutting NH-4 was priced at Rs 10 to 12 lakh two years ago and the same is valued anywhere between Rs 30 to 35 lakh now,” said Santosh Jadhav, a realtor. “If it is a few kilometres away from the National Highway, it costs about Rs 20 lakh,” he added.
   The trend that set in two years ago when works on the HC Bench building got an impetus, made landholders, a majority of them farmers, calculate in terms of lakhs. Further, as the realty boom swept rural pockets and land became worth its weight in gold, more farmers away from Dharwad periphery began trading traditional land measurement terms like the gunta and acre for deals in square feet. Sensing megabucks that a deal in square foot can rake in, farmers across villages within a radius of 10-15 km from Hubli and Dharwad have started quoting prices in square foot.
   Also, house rentals in Dharwad shot up by 80 to 100 percent within days after the announcement of HC Bench inauguration. A single bedroom house in a decent locality costs a minimum of Rs 2,500 while the rent of a double bedroom house is not less than Rs 4,000. Additional facility like car parking will add up another Rs 500.
   H Shreeshail, a tech support working in the HC Bench feels that his decision of volunteering to Dharwad Bench from Bangalore did not turn out to be wise. “I was paying Rs 5,000 for a double bedroom house in Banaswadi in Bangalore and even here I have to shell out the same amount. I thought that I could cut down few thousands in house rent and hence had volunteered my transfer,” he says.

Mathikatti to work for N-K development

Mathikatti to work for N-K development

Special Correspondent - The Hindu

Bangalore: Chairman of the Legislative Council Veeranna Mathikatti has said that he will strive hard to create employment opportunities for the educated youth in north Karnataka by encouraging information technology and biotechnology majors to expand their activities in that region, so that the pressure on Bangalore would reduce to a great extent.

Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Mathikatti, who was recently elected to the post, said that he wanted to contribute to the development of north Karnataka, as he hailed from that area.

Coordination

Fortunately, he said that Speaker Jagadish Shettar also hailed from Hubli and hoped that both could help in coordinating development activities in the backward districts.

Asked to elaborate his plans, the Congress leader said that some of the eminent persons in the IT field such as Gururaj Deshpande, Nandan Nilekani and Sudha Murthy were from north Karnataka.

These industry leaders, he said, would certainly lend a helping hand, if he and Mr. Shettar requested them to start operations in north Karnataka towns such as Belgaum, Hubli-Dharwad, Gulbarga, Bidar and Davangere, which had a large number of educational institutions.