Karnataka eyes $6 bn IT exports

Karnataka, India's largest software exporting state, is targeting software and services export worth $6 billion in 2004-05 riding on the IT and ITeS growth besides aiming to add an additional 100,000 professionals in the next two years.

The state had achieved software exports worth $4.2 billion in the last fiscal.

M K Shankaralinge Gowda, IT secretary, Karnataka, said in New Delhi that this target is cumulative of exports from Software Technology Parks and outside.

On reports of local IT companies threatening to pull out of Bangalore over poor infrastructure, Gowda said the Bangalore Agenda Task Force has been re-activated for this and would supervise the work of the government departments.

On August 10, an industry body, led by Wipro chief Azim Premji, had a discussion with Chief Minister N Dharam Singh over the problems faced by the local IT industry.

Today Premji met Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who also holds the finance portfolio, on the sales tax, which has been raised in the state budget to 12 per cent from five per cent.

Gowda said, "We have to improve social and physical infrastructure in Bangalore," adding the state government is aiming to develop cities like Mangalore, Mysore, Gulbarg and Hubli as alternate IT hubs.