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Chennai , Oct. 15

TAMIL Nadu as a State and Chennai as a destination have been undersold and that situation has to be rectified, especially when a lot of pro-active selling is being undertaken by most State Governments, according to Mr Romi Malhotra, CEO and Managing Director, Scope International Pvt Ltd.

Addressing a seminar on "Emerging Opportunities - Tamil Nadu" organised by The New Indian Express group here today, Mr Malhotra pointed out that, even in the business process outsourcing (BPO) space, a new set of cities as investment destinations was emerging. Chennai suffered from a lot of perception-related problems, something that was far removed from reality. Perception busting was a huge effort that needed to be undertaken.

Scope International, a subsidiary of Standard Chartered Bank, has a large BPO centre in Chennai, with nearly 3,000 professionals employed. This number is likely to go up to 5,000 in a year.

Mr Malhotra said that Tamil Nadu had to address some major issues if it was really keen to have 15-20 per cent of the BPO market by 2008. The market size itself was estimated to grow to about $20-25 billion. Such a market share would generate large growth opportunities, both directly and indirectly. There was a lack of manpower and hence academia, Government and the industry had to come together to do something about it.

Apart from targeting the BPO industry for growth, the State Government should stop benchmarking itself with other competing cities in India, and benchmark with the best in class globally. The Government must create the necessary infrastructure and market the capabilities globally, and encourage specialised education. Seminars had to be conducted where the customers were.

Mr Vivek Harinarain, Tamil Nadu IT Secretary, said the areas of growth that the Government and the IT industry could look at were embedded software, systems integration, HR opportunities, and back office operations.

He said Chennai was the only city in the country whose perception outside was lower than reality. The other cities, he said, rated high on perception but in reality ranked lower.

Mr S. Mahalingam, Chief Financial Officer, TCS, said the company had almost 6,000 professionals working in development centres in Tamil Nadu. The company had invested more than Rs 250 crore in the last few years on infrastructural facilities.

Mr L. Lakshman, Chairman, Rane group, said the State Government, in consultation with the industry, should identify generic enablers for promoting industry and unique enablers for the new industries that it attracted.

The Government should also create a single office for securing this enabling environment using the best management practices.

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