The Hindu Business Line : Tier II cities pitch for investments

WITH worsening infrastructure hampering the expansion of IT companies in Bangalore, Tier II cities in the state such as Mysore, Mangalore and Hubli are keen on attracting IT investments.

Entrepreneurs who have set up IT and BPO operations in these cities made a pitch for investments at BangaloreIT.in 2005, stating that these cities can offer everythingthat Bangalore does.

Mr B.S. Patil, president of the BIS Society, said North Karnataka with its abundance of talent and other infrastructure facilities was waiting to be tapped by IT and BPO firms. "IT and BPO companies should take a serious look at destinations like Hubli, Dharwar and Belgaum, among others, where the cost of operations and attrition is very low compared to that in Bangalore," Mr Patil said, adding MphasiS was seriously considering setting up a decent-sized BPO in Hubli.

Mr Sid Mukherji, Director, Software Paradigms India Pvt Ltd, said companies willing to invest millions in operations should look beyond Bangalore before deciding on locations. Sharing his own experience of running a software development and BPO firm in Mysore since 1997, Mr Mukherji said the city offered an excellent alternative to Bangalore. In terms of employee retention, Mysore has an advantage over Bangalore as people were not keen on relocating, he said.

Mr Kurian James, CEO, Manipal Informatics said operating BPOs in Tier II cities of Karnataka was advantageous as it was easier to neutralise the accent of the workforce and the training costs were low. Sometimes, there was a need to engineer attrition to infuse new blood, he added.

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