The Hindu Business Line : TN to spend Rs 1,500 cr to improve infrastructure

TAMIL Nadu plans to spend around Rs 1,500 crore on improving infrastructure, including road development, decongestion, power addition and a separate IT corridor, according to the State IT Secretary, Dr C. Chandramouli. This will help the State attract more investment, he said. Around 90 million sq ft of IT space is coming up in and around the city, and more than 40 IT parks are being planned, he said at a meeting on `IT SMEs - The days ahead' organised by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (Tamil Nadu branch).

According to Dr Chandramouli, the State has so far attracted around 2,700 foreign direct investment proposals. Companies such as Nokia and BMW are the latest entrants to the State. Further to access Europe and West Asian markets, Chennai offers better air and maritime connections.

Ms R. Rajalakshmi, Director, Software Technology Parks of India, Chennai, said there are four Ms — margin, manpower, marketing and money — bothering the small and medium enterprises. The SMEs (with revenue less than Rs 10 crore) are finding it difficult to sustain their margin levels and are having high attrition levels. They are also finding it difficult to spend large amount on marketing, she said. In 2000, the State had around 70 IT SMEs, and it increased to 292 in 2002 and to 413 in 2004. There was a drop in the number to 348 in 2005 following the closure of a few units that were not doing well, she said.

Mr Lakshmi Narayanan, President and CEO, Cognizant Technology Solutions, said to be a successful company the key issues are to have a right CEO in place, and the person needs to be compensated well. The company should make sure that there is a succession plan and good strategy in place. This should be adopted at all levels, he said.

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