Chandigarh IT park awaits top guns

Having got a name like Infosys as an anchor at its information technology (IT) park, the Chandigarh administration now plans to invite bids for the remaining land and once the available land is sold, intends to add 100 acres more to the park.

"Infosys has already been allotted 30 acre plot of land in the IT park for its campus, while bids for the remaining pieces of land will be invited in a month or two," Vivek Atray, director information technology, Chandigarh administration said.

Apart from a bigger plot that has already been allotted to Infosys, the administration has two five acre plots and 15 plots measuring between 1.0 to 1.5 acre. "If a company wants a 10 acre plot we can combine the two five acre plots and sell it to them," Vivek added.

"IBM has already shown interest in setting up a centre in the park and if they want a bigger piece of land we can sell them 10 acres by combining the two plots," Vivek said, adding, "We expect the park to be operational by June and fully occupied by the end of this year. Once the park is fully occupied, we will expand it in the second phase. We have already identified 100 acre additional land for the purpose."

"Most likely the additional land will be added to the IT park by the end of next year," he added. For smaller companies, construction major DLF has set up two towers, which are nearing completion. The company plans to lease them out.

Apart from IBM, a few US-based companies have also shown interest in acquiring a bigger piece of land in the IT park.

Other companies interested in coming to Chandigarh include Convergys, Vertex, Virsa, Net Solutions and Ranal.

"We are expecting a visit from these companies in the near future," Vivek said. For the smaller plots of land the administration has received expression of interest in 18 companies.

"We are basically targetting companies looking for space outside Bangalore and Hyderabad," he added.

The Chandigarh IT park is also seeking the status of a special economic zone (SEZ) and has already made presentations to the officials at the Centre.

"We are hopeful that we will get the SEZ status," Vivek said. And once that comes through the companies will find it more attractive to invest in the it park," Vivek said.