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IT firms seek infrastructure

Towards info highway: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik with author Subroto Bagchi, MindTree Consulting, and Kris Gopalakrishnan, CEO of Infosys, at a book release function in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday.

BHUBANESWAR: Even as Bhubaneswar is poised to develop into a major IT hub in the country, industry leaders have urged the State Government to put proper urban infrastructure in place for absorbing the development before it becomes too late to regret.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony of two-day Orissa.IT@2008, a meet of IT industries, here on Wednesday, Pramod Bhasin, president and CEO of Genpact, Kris Gopalakrishnan, CEO of Infosys, and Subroto Bagchi, co-founder of MindTree Consulting were univocal in their appeals.

They said, “let’s not repeat mistake done by major cities. More companies are coming. The IT development will explode now. You should be pro-active in putting the right infrastructure in place.”

“Quality of life in major cities is deteriorating. Traffic is woeful. Cities like Bhubaneswar have to be the fuel for growth. But our fear is if the city would be overtaken by the growth,” Mr. Bhasin said.

The Infosys CEO proposed that the State Government start working on metro train as it would become a difficult affair after a few years from now.

“The State Government should also increase student capacity in engineering colleges so that the growth in IT sector is supplemented by quality manpower,” Mr. Gopalakrishnan said.

He said, “an integrated plan should have to be formulated for infrastructure development and enhancement of skills. Then only in future we can look back and say we had done our bit.”

Mr. Bagchi, however, said people of Orissa were inclusive which made the city hot destination for IT growth. This was the reason why Bangalore could become IT capital of the country, he said.

While industry leaders were setting their priorities, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and hordes of senior bureaucrats were on and off the dais.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Patnaik said Orissa was now ninth largest software exporting state in the country and the IT sector was growing at 35 per cent annually. “We are poised to grow at bigger pace in the sector,” he said.

Chief Minister said the State Government had given emphasis on IT-enhancing skills right from school to graduate level and appointed international IT consultancy agency to help it out. He on his part too urged the IT companies to set up their establishments in the State.

Among others State IT Minister Surya Narayan Patro, Secretary P.K Mohapatra, Managing Director of Intel, South Asia Ramamurthy Sivakumar and Chairman of Wisitex Y. L Arora were present on the occasion.

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