The Hindu : Business : Call for investment in IT infrastructure

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Nov 18, 2005

Business

Business

Call for investment in IT infrastructure

Staff Reporter

Final agreement for Smart City soon

— Photo:Vipinchandran

IT SAVVY: Chief Minister Oommen Chandy inaugurates Outsource Partners International's facility at the Infopark in Kochi on Thursday.

KOCHI: Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has called for more private investments in Kerala for building Information Technology infrastructure, including built-up space for IT and IT-enabled services, as the Government more and more turns into a facilitator for the rapid development of the sector.

Inaugurating a service centre of Outsource Partners International (OPI) at Leela Info Park at Infopark, Kakkanad, here on Thursday, Mr. Chandy said the final agreement for setting up the Smart City, a state-of-the-art IT space on 300 acres, would be signed soon.

Two thousand seats

He made an appeal to investors in countries such as the U.S. to choose Kerala as a destination for their new ventures and expansion of operations.

Leela Info Park is Kerala's first private information technology park.

The Chief Minister said the ground would be cleared to encourage new investments. Reforms in labour laws, a single-window clearance facility and special skill training for the youth are the programmes being implemented.

These steps will help make Kerala, already a hot destination for investments, even more attractive, the Chief Minister said.

Single window

OPI is the largest firm engaged in outsourcing finance and accounting functions and its Kochi facility will have a total of 2,000 seats.

It has its headquarters in Bangalore where there are 600 seats. The company expects a turnover of $100 million by 2007, said Clarence Schmitz, Chairman, OPI, at a press conference later.

Kishore Mirchandani, Chief Executive Officer, OPI; Venu Krishnan, Executive Director, Leela group; K. Babu, MLA; Mayor Mercy Williams; G.C. Gopala Pillai, Chairman and Managing Director of FACT; and V. N. P. Kaimal, Managing Director, Kerala Industrial Export Promotion Industrial Parks; were among the speakers at the inauguration.

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