The Hindu Business Line : Kolhapur will be the next IT destination: Deshmukh

"You will not repent if you invest in Kolhapur''. This is what the Chief Minister, Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh, had to say to the Promoters and Builders Association of Kolhapur (PBAK).

Mr Deshmukh said with Hinjewadi, the Pune IT park already full, Kolhapur has risen as the next IT destination in the State. Mumbai and Pune are the other locations in the State, which has almost reached a saturation stage.

He said the State Government would soon set up the single-window clearance for all the approvals to be obtained by the companies for setting up their sites.

To begin with in Phase I, about 80 acres have been committed for it, though there is another 100 acres available for the companies which would like to set shop, according to the members of the association.

Mr P. Venugopal, Co-Convenor, Director, Software Technology Park of India (STPI), said the IT hub that is being developed would be "the IT destination for the newly emerging companies''.

He said the niche areas that could be tapped into included data indexing, engineering services outsourcing etc. Huge volumes of data were being created and to keep track of these information and indexing them would be one of the jobs that would be coming to the country.

And to cater to the companies that would be coming in, a single-window clearance cell is also being set up.

He said that Kagal five-star MIDC area is also under construction while noting that about Rs 1,500 crore investment have already gone in. The total investment expected in these MIDC areas would be Rs 5,000 crore. The project was expected to be completed by 2008, he said.

Mr Yogesh Kulkarni, Vice-President, Confederation of Indian Industry, South Maharashtra Zonal Council, said currently, it has 1,089 hectares of land under it and of this 101 hectares have been earmarked for the textile sector and 70 hectares for the silver zone.

He said that investments have come in from textiles sector such as Raymonds has invested close to Rs 300 crore, Vardhman Polytex Rs 151 crore, Kirloskar Oil Engines Rs 400 crore, Menon Alcop Rs 15 crore. He said a joint venture from Italy Under Carriage Tractors Pvt Ltd, an auto component player, is also investing Rs 200 crore.

The company has already acquired 50 acres and are in the process of acquiring another 50 acres.

Mr Ram Purohit, Convenor, PBAK, said IT companies could book space from 1,000 sq ft to 2.5 lakh sq ft on BOT. He said it would be showcasing about seven to eight private IT parks in and around the city.

Out of these, some of the projects would be managed by Knight Frank India as project management consultants.

He added that it is also proposing to approach the Government to increase the number of flights from Kolhapur to Pune, Mumbai and Bangalore.

More Stories on : Infrastructure | Outlook | Maharashtra

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page