Bangalore: Software exports from Bangalore rose by 28 per cent during the first five months of the current fiscal from a year earlier riding on the back of a continued boom in outsourcing from clients in western countries.

Bangalore's share in the total software exports from the country this fiscal was expected to be around 33 per cent more than the previous year which would be higher than the national growth rate, B.V. Naidu, Director, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), told presspersons here on Thursday. Between April and August, 62 new companies started operations in the State with a total investment of around Rs.1,100 crore.

Out of these, 42 had come in with foreign equity and the amount invested did not include expansion carried out by various existing companies.

By the end of the current fiscal, the IT and ITeS industry in the State would provide employment to over 4 lakh people, he added.

According to Mr. Naidu, IT companies were looking towards investment in Tier II cities such as Mysore where a legal outsourcing company is starting operations with an initial staff of 40 that would be raised to 300 in a phased manner.

Focus

Anup K. Pujari, Principal Secretary (IT and BT), said that high-level delegations from abroad had shown keen interest in setting up operations in secondary cities such as Mangalore, Mysore, Hubli-Dharwad and Belgaum.

"Our focus will be on aggressively promoting these cities as they offer a vast talent pool and good infrastructure," Dr. Pujari said.

The ninth edition of Asia's premier IT event Bangalore IT. in 2006 will be held from October 28 to 31 and the four-day technology exposition will host over 300 Indian and multinational companies, including 175 from 18 countries such as Australia, Belgium, Britain, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Russia, Singapore, Spain and the United States. Sixteen State governments are also expected to participate in the mega event co-hosted by the State Government and STPI.

Initiatives

The State Government has embarked on several initiatives to revolutionise technological advancements and boost Brand Bangalore's dominance on IT. These include Bangalore Unwired, a city-wide wireless infrastructure project to provide seamless integrated wireless digital environment that would become operational within a year and a Knowledge City coming up at Bidadi.

Mr. Naidu said that the STPI was fully geared to offer the latest facilities for start-up companies seeking to commence operations in the State. Orchids Tech Space, the new incubation centre at STPI, provided top-end infrastructure on a par with the best in the world.

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