The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : 3 firms interested in setting up CSCs

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Oct 26, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

3 firms interested in setting up CSCs

N. Anand

They will empower people in rural areas and bridge digital divide

The centres will help to bridge digital divide
The final bids will be opened on November 12

CHENNAI: Reliance, TVS group and 3i Infotech have evinced interest, during the pre-bid stage itself, in setting up 5,440 Common Services Centres (CSCs) in Tamil Nadu as part of e-governance to provide information and communications technology services to the common man for a minimum of four years.

“The Common Services Centres are being planned to empower the people in rural areas and bridge the digital divide. The successful bidders will provide a large number of government and private services to the common man at his doorstep,” IT Secretary C. Chandramouli told The Hindu.

These centres are being set up in the public-private partnership mode. The final bids will be opened on November 12. For operational purposes, Tamil Nadu is divided into five zones. The bidders can apply for all zones, but permission will be given only for four. Therefore, there will be a minimum of two or a maximum of five operators for the entire State.

“Though there are several kiosk operators in the State, they are mostly in the unorganised sector. In case, if one has to make payment for availing himself of a particular service, the CSC operator will pay it and collect the amount from the user. Almost all the government services have a portal. We are providing a base so that the users need not have to look elsewhere to get the services,” he said.

Madurai IT park

Mr. Chandramouli said the space in the IT park in Madurai was fully booked. It is spread over 200 acres at Elandikulam. Land has been allotted to HCL (60 acres), Satyam (50 acres) and Sutherland (10 acres) among others. Around 50 acres has been kept aside for building infrastructure.

The IT/ITES Special Economic Zone developed by the Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu at Sholinganallur is abuzz with activities, with the land having been allotted to Wipro, HCL and Satyam, followed by Cognizant, Sutherland, Sify and Scope International. “By 2011, our vision is to be the ICT hub of South Asia and achieve a 25 per cent market share of the Indian ICT industry. During 2005-2006, the ICT sector in Tamil Nadu provided employment to 0.6 million people, and the figure is likely to reach 2.6 million by 2010-2011. We are adding almost a new unit every second day,” he said.

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