The Hindu Business Line : Work on fifth phase of $15-m IT park begins in Bangalore

CEMENTING A BOND: Mr Ratan Tata, Chairman, International Technology Park Ltd, presenting a memento to Mr Lee Hsien Loong, Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore, at the `first pour of concrete' ceremony for the new building at the technology park in Bangalore on Monday. Mr S.M. Krishna, Chief Minister of Karnataka, is also seen. — G.R.N. Somashekar

Bangalore , Jan 12

THE construction work for the fifth phase expansion of International Technology Park Ltd (ITPL) began on Monday with the Singapore Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Lee Hsien Loong, and the Karnataka Chief Minister, Mr S.M. Krishna, conducting the "first pour" of concrete ceremony.

An estimated $15 million is being invested in constructing the fifth building called Inventor. This nine-storied building will have a total built-up area of about 2.8 lakh sq ft, which would take the total built-up area of the ITPL to over two million sq ft.

The technology park symbolised the strong bilateral relationship between India and Singapore, Mr Lee said. "The expansion of ITPL is of valuable lesson to all Singapore investors - that when exploring a new market, we must expect glitches and difficulties, especially in the beginning," he added.

The ITPL, a joint venture between the Tatas, Karnataka Government and the Ascendas, a Singapore-based consortium, is a global technology hub currently housing about 106 companies employing around 12,000 people. Prominent tenants include global majors such as AOL Member Services, 24/7 Customer, Deutsche Network Services, General Motors India, IBM Global and TCS.

Mr Ratan Tata, Chairman , Tata Sons and ITPL, said the project would catalyse the development of Bangalore and its IT industry. "About 40 per cent of the park's development has been completed with a built-up area of 1.6 million sq feet. Our master plan envisages development of five million sq feet of built-up area in the next 8-10 years," he added.

Mr Krishna said that February 15 has been set as the new deadline for beginning work on the proposed Bangalore international airport at Devanahalli. "I am hopeful that by February 15 (the project will take off)..this time it should not go wrong," Mr Krishna said, adding that if the Tata-led consortium had begun its project, there would have already been a new airport for the city.

Mr Krishna also mentioned that Mr Loong had hinted to him about Singapore Airlines making its schedule to Bangalore daily from the present thrice a week.