Center plans 43 new IT cities

By siliconindia   |   Wednesday, 18 June 2008, 00:08 IST
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New Delhi: As rising cost of infrastructure and employees in big cities started threatening the Indian IT industry, the government has announced its plan to develop 43 new IT cities in the country, in order to tap the huge surge in demand for IT-enabled services over the next 10 years, while maintaining its cost effective appeal, reported The Economic Times. The move comes when IT and BPO companies are losing their global cost advantage with the emergence of countries like Vietnam and the Philippines which offer similar services at cheaper rates and are threatening India's status as the world's back office. The plan seeks to find a way out of the situation where companies find it difficult to recruit quality employees as the allure of BPO jobs dulls and attrition rates go up. Infrastructure constraints in Bangalore, Gurgaon and elsewhere are other spanners in the work. It is felt that these new towns will provide a steady supply of workers besides being specifically geared towards the needs of the IT and BPO sectors. The proposal, suggested by a high-level group on service sector, has been cleared by the Planning Commission. "The modalities for the ambitious plan will be finalized very soon," sources said.