The Hindu Business Line : Fund to hardsell Tamil Nadu as tech destintion

THE Tamil Nadu Government has decided to set up "Destination of Choice Fund" that will seek to project the State as an ideal investment destination for technology companies.

"The new fund will initially be backed by a Rs 2-crore corpus to which several technology companies and other agencies would contribute to make it a Rs 8 crore - 9 crore fund. This fund will enable the State IT department to build a campaign that would help project the State, host trade fairs and partake in international fairs," Mr Vivek Harinarain, Secretary, Information Technology, Tamil Nadu Government, said.

Addressing a press conference here, Mr Harinarain, along with the Managing Director of Elcot, Mr Sudeep Jain, said "there is a peculiar perception versus reality paradox with regard to Tamil Nadu being an ideal destination for technology companies.

"In spite of being the second largest exporter of software, Bangalore and Hyderabad are projected high. We are in the process of addressing this issue. A recent survey indicated that 45 per cent of the investment decisions are based on perception and we are in the process of addressing this after a policy shift."

Highlighting the achievements of the TN Government, Mr Harinarain said "the State was on course to achieving software export target of Rs 9,000 crore this fiscal, a growth of about 30 per cent over last fiscal year. We continue to focus on creating infrastructure and the State's efforts of creating more space for technology companies was being complimented by about 2.5 million sq.ft of built up space by private builders."