Bangalore gets Rs 700 cr foreign investment

Notwithstanding the widespread debate in the US about offshoring to India, Bangalore has garnered a stupendous Rs 670 crore foreign investment during the first quarter of the current fiscal from 30 overseas software and BPO firms, mostly from the US. Bangalore during the entire last fiscal had received Rs 1,970 crore foreign investment from 110 software and BPO companies.

Announcing these details in Bangalore on Tuesday, Software Technology Parks of India - Bangalore, Director B V Naidu said: "The growth in Bangalore as the ultimate destination for software and BPO sector is unabated. The first quarter figures is ample evidence of this fact."

He further said that with this growth comes fresh challenges. "Indian IT economy is the envy of the world. The proliferation of vendors and with several other countries like China and Russia nipping at our heels is a call to action for India to evaluate and change our strategies," he added.

Given this backdrop, STPI - Bangalore in association with Sand Hill Group will be hosting a one day seminar in Bangalore on September 13, 2004 on "India Inc: Marketing, Selling and Serving the US Customer."

Said Naidu: "At a time when the Bangalore software export industry is growing at 46 per cent with around $4.2 billion, this event would be another channel for building the business relations between India and global companies. Given the fact that 70 per cent of Indian software exports is to the US, this event holds much more significance on how to effectively address that market."

Added M R Rangaswami, MD of Sand Hill Group: "Indian companies should elevate themselves from a cost based leadership to a strategic value based partnership as US companies are aggresively building India-based practices.

The event will focus on new business models emerging for enterprise vendors, what visionary customers are demanding from software vendors and how they are buying selectively and keeping tight controls on spending." Rangaswami further added that the US tech spending is on a rebound with a 2-3 per cent increase in IT spending.

Good numbers

• Investment came from 30 overseas software and BPO firms, mostly from the US.
• During the last fiscal the state received Rs 1,970 crore foreign investment from 110 software and BPO companies.
• STPI - Bangalore together with Sand Hill Group will be hosting a one day seminar on 'Marketing, Selling and Serving the US Customer'.