City software exports surge 34 per cent

IT.com boycott called off

Infrastructure problems nothwithstanding, there seems to be no stopping Bangalore's software exports surge. These rose by an impressive 34 per cent in the first five months (April - August 2004) of the current fiscal compared to the similar period of the previous fiscal, to touch Rs 7,500 crore.

The IT capital of India also saw a 39 per cent growth in the quantum of investment it attracted in the first six months of FY05 to touch Rs 1,123 crore. In sheer numbers, Bangalore attracted 92 new IT/ITES companies during H2 of FY05, up from 66 companies attracted during H2 of FY04. Of these, 51 companies have foreign equity and 19 are into the BPO sector.

Announcing this at a media briefing in Bangalore on Thursday, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) "" Bangalore, director B V Naidu said: "There has been no letup in the growth of software exports from Bangalore. Infrastructure is an issue and the Government of Karnataka is taking due steps to address all the problems."

The IT industry is fuelling economic growth to a great extent and disbursed close to Rs 7,000 crore as salaries to 2.4 lakh professionals during 2003-04.

He revealed that the forthcoming Bangalore IT.COM 2004 has attracted close to 300 companies and there have been no dropouts.

Shankarlinge Gowda, IT secretary of Karnataka added: "There were some reservations expressed by a few companies over the problems of infrastructure in the city. On Thursday morning, we had a meeting with around 50 CEOs of IT companies here and have assured them that adequate steps will be taken to address their concerns. Following this, all the companies have agreed to participate in the Bangalore IT.COM 2004 which will held from November 1-5, 2004."

The annual event has attracted an Australian delegation in a big way for the first time. This is expected to pave way for more Australian IT investments in the state.

Gowda further added that chief minister Dharam Singh will hold his second meeting with IT CEOs on October 18 and "hopefully that meeting will solve all issues".

"All stakeholders in infrastructure development such as the government bodies and the Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF) will be at the meeting and chart out a roadmap to address the problems," Gowda noted.