Chennai's IT advocate

ICE PEOPLE

Tamil Nadu's information technology (IT) secretary Vivek Harinarain is passionate about hawking Tamil Nadu as a hot IT destination. His theory is that Chennai is high on reality as an IT investment spot but low when it comes to perception and that the case is just the other way around for other IT hubs like Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Says Harinarain: "Chennai (and Tamil Nadu) is high on reality but low on perception as a value proposition for IT investment, while it is the other way round for neighbouring cities like Bangalore or Hyderabad."

And why, pray, is Chennai a good investment destination? The city has a number of engineering colleges, Tidel park, an IT corridor plus the Siruseri Tech park.

Harinarain is not a Tamilian "� "I come from the prime minister's constituency, Lucknow," he says "� but he sells Chennai hard. "I truly believe that Chennai and Tamil Nadu for the matter are not projected adequately," he says, and adding that India would be better off by selling the 'invest in Tamil Nadu' idea better.

The 1980 batch IAS officer from the Tamil Nadu cadre has played an important role in drafting Tamil Nadu's draft ITES policy. Nor does he miss a single important occasion to project Tamil Nadu and Chennai.

He has regular meetings with real estate agents in Chennai to ensure that land is available for IT companies. He also goes around to meet IT company CEOs across the country to push the state.

Harinarain is an avid reader of books on sociology and socio economic theories. And yes, he's read Frances Cairncross' 'The Death of Distance: How the Communications Revolution Will Change Our Lives.'

Married with two children (wife Sangeeta is a housewife who designs cards and stationery to help under privileged children, son Rishabh is a second year medical student at Dubai Medical College and daughter Surchi is a class 11 student and a model in Chennai), he vacation's at his in-laws place at Rjukant in Norway once a year.

Yet will Harinarain stay on in the government? After all, his Karnataka counterpart, Vivek Kulkarni, quit not very long ago to head a private IT company. "I have received several offers from the private sector, both within and outside IT circles. As long as I believe that I can serve the people and make a difference, I will stick to service," he says.