Bhubaneswar, a preferred hub for IT and ITes, says survey

Reaffirming the confidence of investors in IT and ITes (IT enabled services) sectors, Bhubaneswar has emerged as the preferred hub for setting up of city centres by players in these sectors.

The IT as well as ITes sectors are poised to be one of the key drivers of office space in the country, according to a survey on office occupiers in India conducted by DTZ, the global property advisory engaged in research on commercial property markets.

The study indicates that the IT/ITes companies have their preference for the Tier–II cities of Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh and Jaipur while Ahmedabad has emerged as the BFSI (Banking, Financial Services and Insurance) sector's favorite tier II destination.

“The sound social and physical infrastructure coupled with quality human resource and low occupancy costs make these locations ideal choices for the corporates”, says DTZ Occupier Perspective: India Office Demand Survey for 2011-12.

Rohit Kumar, Head of India Research-DTZ said, “We have witnessed that the micro market in Delhi is comparable to that of central business districts of Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh and Jaipur. “

The research firm feels that the nature of the business decides the locations for setting up of offices in Tier-II cities.

“If it is a completely back office business and it does not require any travel and interaction with clients, these three locations (Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh and Jaipur) are very much attractive,” he added.

According to DTZ, the national capital region (NCR) and Bangalore are being preferred by IT and ITes firms, while the financial capital Mumbai is BFSI’s favourite.

The survey report says that most corporates are adopting a ‘wait-and-watch’ policy, which will lead to a slowdown in expansion plans across industries and thus a more moderate overall take-up of office space in 2012. The IT/ITes sector in India is estimated to take up approximately 12 million sq ft of space in 2012, compared to 18 million sq ft taken up in 2011 as the demand is likely to drop by 30 per cent.

It may be noted that DTZ had held discussions with senior executives from different industries including IT, ITes, BFSI, healthcare, manufacturing, media, infrastructure, aviation and telecommunication during October-December 2011 to arrive at the findings.