BANGALORE: The Karnataka government’s promotion of Tier II and III cities as IT destinations has been a non-starter so far with Mysore and Mangalore accounting for only 4 per cent of software exports from the state.
The lukewarm response to the campaign has further dampened IT Minister S R Patil’s ambition of competing with the Silicon Valley in the US. With major companies located in and around Bangalore, software companies are unsure about the opportunities and incentives to set up facilities in smaller cities.
“There is no water, no infrastructure and no benefit in Tier II and III cities,” Ramdas Kamath, Executive Vice-President, (Head) Facilities, Administration, Security and Sustainability, Infosys, told Express.
He said Infosys Mysore accounted for `2,350 crore and Mangalore `1,800 crore of the total exports of `1.8 lakh crore from the state last fiscal.
“The two cities make up for only 2 per cent (each), and of this (Infosys) accounts for 95 per cent of total exports from both cities,” he said.
He said no software company would want to set up facilities in other regions of the state as there is no infrastructure or ecosystem. “In Mangalore we do not have a drop of water. We paid `6.5 crore to the government for water, but we still don’t have a drop,” he said.
Kamath said even connectivity to these places is poor. “Flights to Mangalore are as costly as going to Delhi. Roads are in a pathetic state and it takes over 12 hours by train,” he said and added that Karnataka has not capitalised on Tier II and III cities like neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Kamath said lack of basic amenities will also force software professionals to look for opportunities in Bangalore.
“Basic infrastructure is being provided in places like Hubli and Shimoga in the form of IT parks. The process is timetabling and we are trying to ensure promotion of Tier II cities through events which have turned out to be very informative for us,” Tanushree Deb Barma, Director for IT/BT in the state, said in an e-mail response to Express.
Patil had said in Hubli last month that the government is taking various measures to increase IT exports to `4 lakh crore and provide direct employment to 20 lakh people.
He urged software companies to set up facilities in Tier II and III cities and avail concessions and benefits.
“The stress is now on ease of setting up businesses and ensuring availability of talent. Skill development has also become a major focus,” Barma said.
Karnataka has been trying to promote cities like Hubli-Dharwad, Mysore, Mangalore, Belgaum, Shimoga and Tumkur as incubation centres.