Gujarat to be next IT hub

With the existing IT destinations nearing saturation, many IT companies are looking for greener pastures in Gujarat.

Nasscom president Kiran Karnik who was in Ahmedabad to attend a meeting with senior officials of state IT department, said while talking to Business Standard, "Gujarat has missed out in the initial round and it is not too late for the state to pick up. The state has immense talent and has great entrepreneur spirit. The prospects for IT are very good in Gujarat," Karnik said.

However, there is a feeling of lack of talent in English language in Gujarat, he said while adding: "This is a hangover from the past when the language was discouraged then."

Many IT companies are interested in Gujarat, as they want to go beyond Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai and Hyderabad, he said.

Hailing the state government's recent efforts Karnik said that the state IT policy is also good. From a long time now the state government has been dilly-dallying on the new IT policy and has been delayed to a certain extent.

One of the main agendas of the meeting was to discuss the IT policy, which is likely to be implemented by next month, according to sources close to the development.

Currently no other state has an IT policy, sources closely observing the sector said. The sources added that the proposed policy by the state is a better version of what the Andhra Pradesh government had implemented.

Places like Bangalore and Gurgaon are nearing saturation and Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad and Vadodara are on the right time to settle on the scale, Karnik said in the meeting, the sources said.

Nasscom is also planning to tie-up with the state government to promote IT in the state. "We are in talks with the government and it is too soon to comment on it," Karnik said.

While Raheja has acquired 93 acres land at Koba for an IT park- Mindspace, many more players including DLF, L&T and Kolkata based Infinity group are planning to set up more IT parks in the state.

The State SEZ Development Authority has given in principle clearance to an IT SEZ proposed to be jointly developed by Team Pro and BRG group near Vadodara for an estimated project cost of Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion).