TN IT exports to touch 10, 000 Crore

By agencies   |   Thursday, 17 March 2005, 20:30 IST
Printer Print Email Email
CHENNAI:Software exports from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu will touch 10, 000 crore ($1.2 billion) in 2005-06, a report released recently said. The report said the IT exports, which was less than Rs 2,000 crore before 2001, touched Rs 8,000 crore ($1 billion) last year and was expected to cross the Rs 10,000 crore mark in the current fiscal. The report also said that Tamil Nadu was emerging as India's Eastern Gateway to the world and not just South Asia, it said and quoted that both Nasscom and Gartner, an IT consulting firm, had predicted that Chennai would be one of the top favoured destinations for IT outsourcing by 2010 in India. It said that availability of large-network roads; three international seaports and two international airports in the state had attracted a large number of investors to its shores. "The state with 44,000 route km of fiber optic connectivity continues to remain a preferred IT destination", it said, adding that in 2004, more than 40 IT parks in the private sector in Chennai had been cleared, totaling an area of 8.5 million sq.ft, of which 1 million sq.ft had already been built and occupied. The report said large companies like Philips, Accenture, iGate, KLA-Tencor, Kanby Software, Syntel, GECIS, Virtusa, Siemens, Alcatel and 24/7 customer have recently started their large scale IT operations in Chennai. It also said another 6 million sq.ft. was expected to be ready by 2005.