IT Investment Region near Bengaluru to attract $20 bn

India's first Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) on the city's outskirts would attract $20 billion (Rs.1.2 trillion) investment and create millions of jobs, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said Wednesday.

"The upcoming ITIR project at Devanahalli near the airport is expected to bring in $20-billion investment, create four million direct and indirect jobs and generate $40 billion revenue annually when developed," Siddaramaiah asserted at an ICT event here.

The mega project, a joint venture of the central and state governments with the private sector, will be developed over a whopping 10,500 acres of land in two phases by 2032, overtaking the IT cluster in Silicon Valley in the US in terms of size and scale.

"I have reviewed the project and directed the nodal agency (KIADB) to acquire 2,072 acres of land for developing the first phase," the chief minister said, inaugurating the Bangalore ITE.biz and CeBIT India event at Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) on the city's outskirts.

The Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) has already issued preliminary notification to owners and farmers of the lands to be acquired around Devanahalli, about 40km from Bengaluru, for the mega project.

"Owners of the lands to be acquired will be paid compensation under the new land acquisition law enacted by the central government. The nodal agency can raise loan from Hudco for compensating land owners," Siddaramaiah said on the occasion.

The central government, which has approved the project, will provide funds to build world-class infrastructure, including road and rail connectivity, telecom and power.

As a joint initiative of the central and state governments to attract major investments in the IT sector, a part of the integrated project will be demarcated for the development of IT/IT-enabled services and electronic hardware manufacturing units.

Noting that Bengaluru has also emerged as the start-ups capital, next only to the US Silicon Valley, Siddaramaiah said many of them have started operating in data analytics, cloud computing and mobility space, auguring well for the digital economy.

"The outcome of the start-ups initiative of the state government in association with the IT industry representative body Nasccom has been positive and encouraging," the chief minister noted.

Referring to the 'Karnataka i-4' policy announced by the state government last year, Siddaramaiah said the novel initiative was aimed at giving a thrust to the growth of the IT sector in the tier-two and tier-three cities across the state.

The Vision Group on IT, headed by Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan, has been providing valuable inputs to the state government in taking up initiatives for the growth of IT in tier-2 and tier-3 cities across the state.

The IT growth story of India is led by Karnataka, thanks to skilled professionals, dynamic entrepreneurs, a vibrant eco-system, and industry-friendly policies of the state, which accounts for 30 percent of the country's IT exports.

The state has contributed IT exports valued at Rs.1.80 lakh crore in 2013-14 fiscal.

Of the three million (30 lakh) software professionals in the IT sector across the country, about one million (10 lakh) are in Karnataka alone.

The IT industry contributes about 20 percent to the state's gross domestic product.