MANGALURU: Udupi, known as an education hub, may soon bag a share of the state’s infotech pie. Formal invitations will be sent to IT giants to set up shop here.
As an initial move, the IT secretary and the director, Department of Information Technology in Bengaluru have been asked to facilitate a survey of IT professionals from Udupi or Mangaluru working in Bengaluru-based IT giants like Infosys, TCS, Wipro and Accenture, besides medium and small IT companies.
Udupi MLA Pramod Madhwaraj told Express, “I have asked NASSCOM also to conduct the survey through the government which will help a number of companies expand production facilities to tier II cities. Since professionals will be working from closer to their home cities, their productivity will increase and companies will also benefit from lower costs and improved productivity.”
“I am sure big companies have Udupi-based professionals working with them. According to my estimate, there could be not less than 3,000 to 3,500 young professionals of Udupi origin working in companies in Bengaluru. If the companies can respond to this survey positively, we will find infrastructure, land and other facilities to welcome them,” he said. “Let us not forget that engineering colleges here also produce IT students,” Madhwaraj added.
Udupi and Manipal have decent urban facilities due to the education complex in Manipal. IT industries can also sell the serene atmosphere in Udupi to enthuse their professionals to work nearer home, sparing them of the daily bumper-to-bumper traffic of Bengaluru, say Udupi planners. With little pollution, Udupi will be the ideal place to work for IT professionals, they say.
Manipal and Udupi together boast a decent urban lifestyle with all the major MNC brands having their establishments here. The Udupi Chamber of Commerce and Industry was also eager to get a slice of the IT pie.
Urban Development Minister Vinay Kumar Sorake, who is also Udupi District In-charge Minister, reacted positively to the government’s interest in setting up an IT park in Udupi. He told Express on the sidelines of an Udyoga Mela, “We are looking at non-polluting industrial growth for Udupi. On that count, we must have IT and knowledge industries here. I am sure IT industries in Bengaluru will find the investment environment in Udupi favourable.”