THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state has registered an impressive 30% growth in revenue from the IT exports over the last one year. However, the exact figures are yet to be released.According to John M Thomas, CEO, Kerala IT Parks, in the last 15 months, since March 2021, there has been a 30% increase. That this growth has been recorded pan-Kerala amid the pandemic is a great achievement for the state’s IT sector. The rise in export revenue is proportional to the addition of IT space in Technopark, Infopark and Cyberpark.
“The growth figures were based on a survey carried out from March 2021. The official figures will be published soon. For instance, Infopark in Kochi has alone registered an export revenue of Rs 8,200 crore in the last 15 months from Rs 6,310 crore in 2020-21. There is a corresponding growth registered at Technopark and Cyberpark as well. So, as a whole, a 30% pan-Kerala growth in export revenue has been reported,” Thomas said.
As per the statistics of the last four years, Technopark is still on top in IT export revenue generation. Technopark increased its revenue from Rs 7,890 crore in 2019-20 to `8,501 crore in 2020-21. In 2018-19 fiscal, Rs 7,000 crore of export revenue was recorded. At the same time, Kochi’s Infopark registered a revenue of Rs 6,310 crore in 2020-21, while Rs 5,200 crore was recorded in 2019-20 fiscal.
In 2018-19, the figure was Rs 4.500 crore. As far as Cyberpark is concerned, a total of Rs 26.16 crore in revenue was registered in 2020-21 fiscal while Rs 14.76 crore was recorded in 2019-20. In 2018-19, it generated Rs 8.11 crore in export revenue.
The increase in software exports demonstrates the IT industry’s strength and resilience in the face of adversity. During the pandemic, the government’s support for the IT sector and policies aided smaller businesses. With the work of large ongoing infrastructure development projects, IT parks expect a higher export growth in the coming years, both by enabling organic growth of existing firms and by attracting new global corporations, Thomas said.
Recently, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan informed the assembly that the IT parks in the state will get a huge additional space and see a vast employment generation in the next five years. As per statistics, the planned space and job opportunities are 44 lakh sq ft in Technopark which will generate 43,000 jobs, 15 lakh sq ft in Infopark generating 20,000 jobs, and 4 lakh sq ft in Cyberpark generating 4,000 jobs in the next five years.