TECHNO PARK, JAIPUR : Under the Sun

RAJASTHAN’S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY park at Sitapura near Jaipur was set up by its industrial development body, the Rajasthan State Industrial Development and Investment Corporation (RIICO), in 1997-98. The park has all the makings for a bustling software center. Rajasthan, in fact, was one of the first states in the country to put up state-of-the-art infrastructure to facilitate the growth of the IT industry.

Spread over an area of 80 acres, the IT park has all necessary infrastructure facilities, which has helped companies to commence operations in small gestation periods. For instance, high-speed communication facilities through an earth station are available for IT units. The station also enables the use of the Internet as well as international private leased lines. 

The station has been promoted by RIICO in association with the Software Technology Park of India. Forty plots have been planned in the park. Five units are operational in the park, while two are in the implementation stage.

MAHINDRA CITY, CHENNAI : Do Your Own Thing

HOW ABOUT working for an IT company that is tucked away from the urban chaos, surrounded by hills, lakes et al. Or how about taking some breaks between work everyday to play a game of tennis or go fishing? If it sounds out of context, the chances are you have not seen Mahindra City near Chennai yet, spread across 1,440 acres of green landscape. Jointly promoted by Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), IL&FS and TIDCO, M&M has 51% stake, while the other two promoters have 38% and 11% respectively. With an investment of Rs 170 crore till now, Mahindra City is probably one of the first of its kind in India to be executed on such a large scale. Mahindra City offers three options to IT companies - campus, built to suit, and ready built. Under the campus format, companies can buy the land and develop their own structures. If a company decides to go for the built to suit option, the design and other needs are carried out as specified by the client. The city will also have a 200,000 sq ft ready built structure aimed at IT and BPO companies. Within a span a nine months since its inauguration in September 2002, the promoters have got good response. The officials’ claim that large chunks of land will soon be occupied by premium IT companies. Mahindra City also offers other infrastructure necessities like unlimited bandwidth, 24/7 power, ample car parking, food courts and well laid out roads. And all these say one thing - for those tired of residing in concrete jungles—move into Mahindra City.

CIDCO INFOTECH PARK, VASHI-BELAPUR: Unequal Twins

THESE ARE twin projects that have been promoted by CIDCO at Navi Mumbai. The more popular one is the International Infotech Park, located above the Vashi railway station, where companies like ICICI Infotech, Tracmail and Sify are housed. Situated right above the station, it is geographically convenient as it reduces employees’ travel time. Other means of public transport are also available from the park. There is also a proposal to build an international airport at a distance of 8 km from the park in the near future. The data communication network provides high speed and high bandwidth connections to the companies present in the park through a satellite earth station and fiber optic cables. The Belapur facility is occupied by Wipro Spectramind, its only technology occupant. Steep municipal taxes and high parking costs (around Rs 700 is charged per vehicle every month) are the disadvantages. Complaints about insufficient safety measures and the lack of responsiveness on the part of CIDCO have also been cited as reasons for the lukewarm reaction to the park. Both the parks are close to the Mumbai-Pune Knowledge Corridor that connects Mumbai and Pune.

GNFC INFOTOWER: Half-way Full

STAMP DUTY exemption, special incentives under the IT policy and competitive prices were some of the promises that the Gujarat government had made when setting up GNFC Infotower. But, instead, occupants have to face police inquiries regarding their working at night and mass recruitment programs. Though an embarrassed government reprimanded the illiterate and ignorant police officials, the damage had already been done. Two years into this incident, the tower is only 50% occupied but GNFC officials are confident that as soon as new investment flows into the state, there will be a demand for more space in technology parks like GNFC Infotower. The ignorance aside, the park has a lot going for it. It has a 5,000-line BSNL exchange, captive power back up and offers good bandwidth. Besides, there is a centrally air-conditioned system installed that two chiller units of 200 tonne capacity each. Plus, its vicinity to Ahmedabad is another advantage. So far, six companies have set up offices. The majority of them are call centers, a booming business that is now coming up in Gujarat. GNFC Online, one of the leading Internet service providers in the state, has its office in the tower.

GUJARAT INFOCITY: Bouncing Back

THE VIOLENCE in Godhra has taken a heavy toll on Gujarat, but the state seems to be bouncing back. Gujarat’s IT showcase—the Rs 236-crore Infocity—faced trouble a number of times. Nonetheless, the authorities feel strong investments and a revival in business interest will help the park take off soon enough. The contract for building the Infocity was handed over to Florida-based Creative IT Incorporated after a global bid. The plan is to build not just plug-and-play offices like the GNFC Infotower, but a complete township that will offer all world-class amenities. The government’s equity is the land and the project is being carried out on a BOT basis. The state has adopted a flexible approach as far as pricing of the land and the design of the park is concerned. In case the design and the ambience of the readymade tower are not in tune with the aesthetics of an investing company, it has the freedom to purchase or lease land and build its own infrastructure. And this is perhaps the first techpark that is offering kickstart call center options, which roughly translates into overnight addition or setting up of call centers. The other benefits, as elucidated by the state government, include unmatched cost of space and working hours.

TALAWADE TECH PARK: Promising Ahead

VERDANT GREEN fields surround the Talawade Tech Park, situated near the banks of the river Indrayani. Located around 22-odd km from the main city of Pune, the park was among the first private enterprises in Pune to have made a bid to woo software companies to work from India. The 190-acre tech park was earlier a private enterprise but was later taken over by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) when the private players did not succeed in selling the idea to US software companies. But the entry of Kanbay changed the picture. Kanbay India is Kanbay’s largest development center. The company’s e-solutions center in Pune houses almost 1,100 employees. Now, Syntel has announced plans to set up a 40-acre technology campus while Xansa has taken 16 acres at the park. However, its distance from the city remains a major hassle for those working at the park owing to the dismal public transportation system. Thus, Kanbay runs its own buses and so does Xansa, which is yet to begin operations there. Lack of branded food outlets and entertainment facilities near the campus makes it strictly a work place for the present. A utility-cum-recreational center at a centrally located plot, with facilities like a gym, shopping center, library and a swimming pool, is also planned.

STPI, MOHALI: Going the Extra Mile

MOHALI DOES not have a park in the league of Bangalore and Thiruvananthapuram, but for companies keen on setting up operations, STPI Mohali would go that extra mile to make the venture a successful one, right from help in procuring land and getting all clearances to providing bandwidth, et al. Already, companies like Infosys and IDS Infotech have set operations, and Quark Media boasts of its 700-strong development center, the only one in India. However, barring a few high profile names like these, STPI Mohali doesn’t have much to show. For one, there is no centralized tech park environment, as most of the IT units are spread all over the town. The Punjab government is providing industrial land to IT companies at Rs 700 per sq mtr. A lot of built-up space is available in Mohali for rent, with prices ranging between Rs 5 and 15 per sq ft, depending on the location. There is 60 Mbps of total bandwidth available with STPI Mohali. The key advantages to setting up a unit in Mohali are quality of life, easy and abundant infrastructure facilities, and good availability of highly skilled manpower. The airport is 10 km away and Mohali is 12 km away from Chandigarh city center. To commute, auto rickshaws can be hired and buses ply. Chandigarh was recently rated by CII as third-best city to do business in, after Delhi and Greater Mumbai, while a recent study by Gartner rated Chandigarh as the city with the best telecom infrastructure.

Note: Stars at the beginning of the writeups denote the final rating—on a scale on 1 to 5. This is not a comprehensive listing, and only those parks that chose to participate and fulfilled the three-pronged criteria have been included. Some parks have not been rated.

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