Land allotment of Rayapur land for IT Companies

Land allotment of Rayapur land for IT Companies
Source: HDMC website

Dharwad/Hubbaali:

Company Name Land to be allotted

Quest, Bangalore 25 Acres

Keonics, Bangalore 5 acres

NS Infotech, Hubli 5 acres

Diksha Technologies, Bangalore 3 acres

ADES, Dharwad 1.5 acres

PAC Soft, Bangalore 4 acres

Trinity technologies 1 acre

Mahaveer Infoway, Hubli 1 acre

Penarbor Infotech, Hubli 1 acre

Sankalp Semiconductor, Bangalore 3 acres

C2S software solution, Bangalore 3 acres

Envision, Bangalore 1 acre

Aeroule Technologies, Bangalore 2.5 acres

There is some cheers for IT-backers of the twin cities. The disappointment of IT bellwether TCS and Quest pulling out due to bureaucratic apathy will soon be overcome by the news that ICICI oneSource has evinced interest to start Its BPO operations in the twin cities.

Meanwhile, the State government. has also cleared decks to allot HDMC owned land at Rayapur for 'IT and ITeS industries.

According to highly placed Sources, ICICI oneSource is contemplating to start its off­shore outsourcing operations in Hubli.

Growing costs at tier-l cities and congestion has made the company to look towards tier-2 cities. Among the few tier-2 cities, it is learnt that, BPO wing of ICICI is planning to set up its shop with a strength of 1,200 in Hubli.

If the proposal comes through, it will be a great encouragement to attract other BPO companies to set up their operations in Hubli-Dharwad. The government should facilitate such initiatives with an open mind and encourage such ventures by providing all necessary facilities, stated.

The saga of allotting land to IT companies has continued for the last six months with Hubli-Dharwad being deprived of investment from TCS and Quest due to the delay by the government in allotting suitable land. But the district administration is still confident of persuading the companies to reconsider their decision of backing out of the projects.

"As HDMC is not permitted to sell its land directly, it needed Cabinet's nod. Finance and Urban Development departments raised some objections, resulting in the delay. However, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has signed the file and the next Cabinet meeting will ratify the proposal," Revenue Minister Jagadish Shettar told Vijay TImes.

Shettar is quite bullish about Hubli Dharwad emerging as the next tier-2 destination for investments in IT sector. "TCS wanted to invest in an IT SEZ developed either by State agencies or private companies. The State government is not in a position to develop an SEZ. It is willing to allot lands to the company. Let the company get clearance from the Centre to develop an SEZ," he remarked

"I have directed deputy commissioner M S Srikar and HDMC commissioner P Manivannan to persuade both companies to invest in Hubli. There is no dearth of land for other companies. If anybody comes with a big investment proposal the government has KIADB land to allot. It all depends on the interest of companies," he added.

While addressing an IT Investors' Meet in May, Kumaraswamy promised a hi-tech city between' Hubli and Dharwad. "if the government takes so much time to take a decision on a small piece ofland, then how many years will it need to fulfil the dream of hi-tech city," some citizens asked.

However, the news of ICICI will ring sweet bells in the ears of the citizens and they hope this will set the trend for better investment in the region.