The Kerala government said that it is expanding the Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram by 500 acres. Out of this, 50 acres have been leased out to Infosys and 36 acres to US Technologies.
TCS and IBS will also be constructing their own software development centres within the campus.
In the phase III of the expansion, Technopark will acquire an additional 100 acres. "All the acquired land will be promoted as SEZ," said Oomen Chandy, Chief Minister of Kerala.
Infopark in Kochi is the other government sponsored IT park in the state. Wipro has commenced work on a 25-acre campus within the park. The second building in the Infopark with over 2 lakh sq ft will be commissioned shortly.
Infrastructural developers like L&T and the Leela group are also expected to have a significant presence on the campus.
The government had also recently signed an MoU with Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone Authority for setting up a 300 acre self contained IT park in Kochi. The final agreement for setting up the 'Smart City' would be signed in December.
"The government is also speeding up the 'Smart City' project and planning a bio technology park in Kochi," said P H Kurien, secretary, Information Technology and Investment Promotion.
At present there are 150 IT companies in the state employing 15,000 people and this is expected to grow to 50,000 by 2008. Once Infosys completes its campus in Thiruvananthapuram, it will increase its headcount to 2,000 from the current 200.
With the privatisation of technical education in Kerala, more seats have been added to engineering colleges, thereby increasing the talent pool.
"In the coming year, 20,000 engineers will pass out from universities in Kerala compared to 7,000 in 2001," said Kurien.
"The state's efforts in IT are not limited to promoting the state as an investment destination. IT is increasingly being used as a tool to facilitate good and transparent governance as well as a means to improve quality and service delivery, especially to the poorer sections of society," Oomen Chandy said.
