Nine IT firms seek land in twin cities

Nine IT firms seek land in twin cities
The Hindu.com

Staff Correspondent
Government to hold talks with companies keen on Hubli-Dharwad
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# Government to identify 100 acres of land between Hubli and Dharwad for IT city
# Decision on land rates and rebates for IT companies to be taken soon
# Another website providing information on the twin cities to be launched soon
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DHARWAD: Revenue Minister Jagadish Shettar has said that the Government will soon hold talks with the heads of information technology companies that are keen on setting up their units in Hubli and Dharwad.

Presiding over a meeting here on Sunday, Mr. Shettar said that two major and seven small information technology companies had sought land for establishing their units in the twin cities.

Decision soon

The Government was in the process of identifying some 100 acres of land between Hubli and Dharwad for setting up an integrated IT city.

A decision on land rates and rebates for IT companies would be taken shortly, he added.

There were adequate facilities in the twin cities for establishing IT companies and the same would be presented before the heads of such companies during the meeting.

The State Government was committed to giving all facilities to those willing to set up their units in tier-two cities, he said. The Revenue Minister said that another website providing information on twin cities would be launched soon.

Pralhad Joshi, MP, M.S. Srikar, Deputy Commissioner, P. Manivannan, Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation Commissioner, Ashok Shettar, Principal of BVB College of Engineering and Technology, and Subhas were present.

The availability of land in the twin cities under the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board and the demand for land from IT companies were discussed.

The issue of acquiring additional land between Hubli and Dharwad through KIADB, land available with the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation, excess land with the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee, and related issues were discussed.

TCS to invest over Rs 1100 cr in Karnataka

TCS to invest over Rs 1100 cr in Karnataka
The Times of India

THANUJA B M
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ FRIDAY, JUNE 23, 2006 10:00:47 AM]

BANGALORE: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is planning to expand its footprint in Karnataka. The company, which currently has development centres in Bangalore, will expand both in the city as well as move into the second tier cities in the state.

The entire expansion would envisage an investment of over Rs 1,100 crore in the next 2-3 years. According to sources, TCS has asked for 100 acres each in Bangalore and Mysore and 50 acres each in Mangalore and Hubli. The proposal is likely to come up before the State High Level Clearance Committee (SHLCC) when it meets in July this year.

If the plan is cleared, the government will have to acquire land in these cities which could take about six months, they add.

TCS earlier this month said that it would invest Rs 500 crore for a 50 acre development facility in Pune with a 5,000 seat capacity and ramp up to 10,000 people. Going by these numbers, the over Rs 1,100 investment in Karnataka could mean a creation of over 20,000 jobs across the four locations.

Currently, the IT major has five centres in Bangalore employing 10,500 people of which 2,000 staff are currently overseas. Other cities in India where TCS has centres are Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Thiruvanathapuram and Ahmedabad . The company employs about 62,000 people both in India and overseas. It plans a gross addition of 30,500 people in 2006-07 .

Can we Progress!!! - certainly YES,

Can we Progress!!! - certainly YES,
From the desk of Moderator

Dear Friends,

Can we Progress!!! - certainly YES, A lot can happen and is really happening,
and the progress is showing up at the recent developments the Hubli-Dharwad is witnessing. The IT Investors Meet is a big step forward to bring the IT/ITES/BPO to the twin cities.

The Group led by Mr.Nagesh Tavarageri and his friends in US are really doing a good job which is a possible step towards bringing the like minded people who are willing to put the branch of their company in the expansion plan.Their online petetion for JNURM was published in all major newspapers which had major impact on the politicians and the people of the region.

This Hubli City Group and The NRIsOfNorthKarnataka group has many of the elite people from this region who really can make difference to the twin cities, for example the entreprenuers like Mr.Gururaj Deshpande,Mr.Anant Koppar,and from educationist like Dr.Ashok Shetter, and the people from beurocracy Mr.P Mannivanna and the chief minister is himself part of the group which he mentioned in his talk at IT Investors meet.

So there is still lot people from this region who hold the key posts in many MNC's throughout the world can make a difference.Today there are CEO's,CTO's,CFO's, and many managerial positions who hail from this region.To quote an example Mr. Nandan Nilekeni,CEO of Infosys hails from dharwad and did his education from Dharwad can be approached also within the company Mrs Sudha Murthy,Chairperson Infosys Foundation also is from Hubli who did studies from BVB Hubli. We need to ask these people to give back something to their place by putting their branch in the twin cities.Certainly I think it is Infosys initiative which gave boost to the IT sector in Mysore and Mangalore and not much to the govt initiatives.

I think the time has arrived for the infrastuture boost for the region and this in turn will bring the IT/ITES/BPO industry to the region and no one can stop from it.The things in the past 1 yr, the twin cities has undergone major transformation in the roads and footpaths and the beautification of the twin cities,this credit should go to the HDMC Commissioner Mr.P.Mannivanna for his tremendous efforts.
Also the Hubli Airport is taking shape for night landing facilities and the Golden Quadrilateral is nearing the finishing stages,this will boost the road ,rail connectivity with major places like Bangalore,Mumbai,Pune and Panaji.

I think all is going well,and if the we the people from this region can take some initiative and make a small contribution towards this will certainly make a big difference in the long run and in the coming days.

A small thought from my side......
I also maintain a blog which gives all the information about the twin cities at http://buzzpappu.blogspot.com

thank you.. Have a great day.

Regards,
Praveen

Night flights likely from next month

Night flights likely from next month
The Hindu.com
Staff Correspondent

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Air Deccan all set to operate night flights
Hubli airport upgrading work to be completed by month-end
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HUBLI: If everything goes as scheduled, night flight services will begin from Hubli in July.

According to sources, Air Deccan, which is operating flights to Bangalore from Hubli, was set to start night flights from Hubli. However, the company is yet to approach the Director General of Civil Aviation for permission to start night flights, and it is awaiting completion of work on upgrading the airport. Air Deccan planned to operate night flights to Mumbai via Belgaum and Hubli, the sources said. However, M.S. Srikar, Deputy Commissioner, said that there was no response from any civil aviation company to begin night flights from Hubli.

Rajesh, manager of the Hubli airport, said the work on increasing the intensity of ground lights was on. All works were likely to be completed by the month end.