Trichy IT park - Update
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu has given a double whammy back to recession now, having not only exceeded estimates of a 20% growth in IT exports in
2008-09, but having added 41000 jobs during the year.
The final tally released by TN IT department and STPI- Chennai on Wednesday showed a 29% growth in software exports from Tamil Nadu at Rs 36,680 crore in 2008-09 over Rs 28426 crore in 2007-08. It was Rs 20658 crore in 2006-07 when the growth rate was 37%.
Last year, the State saw a slight fall in the number of IT units added to 107 from 139 in FY08. "That, we believe, is primarily because all the major companies have already invested here," said STPI Chennai director J Parthasarathy. The figure does not include expansion by existing companies. "Also, most of the new entrants are SMEs."
The state's IT export sector employed 2.85 lakh people in STP units, and 45481 in IT and ITeS SEZs. The employee strength in STPs stood at 2.44 lakh last year, indicating a job addition of 41000. Since IT SEZs have also been a recent phenomenon, 45,481 employees in SEZ units have all been added in the past two years.
There are 28 approved IT SEZs in TN, of which 18 are in Chennai, with the rest in the tier II cities of Coimbatore, Madurai, Trichy and Salem. Of the SEZs 19 are operational, housing 52 units, compared to 34 last year. These SEZs have attracted Rs. 3063 crore investments and earned export revenue of Rs. 6102 crore in 2008-09, compared to Rs.1787 crore in 2007-08 – an impressive growth of 241%.
"We have taken a conscious decision to accelerate the growth of the IT sector in tier II cities, and hence generate more jobs there," said TN IT Secretary P W C Davidar. "By this fiscal end, we’ll complete construction of all the IT SEZs promoted by the state owned Electronics Corporation of TN (ELCOT) at Trichy, Madurai and Tirunelveli."
Earlier the state had taken a decision not to move to other towns till SEZs in these three towns were occupied. However, given the interest generated in Hosur and Salem, ELCOT has decided to begin construction there.
"Even without any special incentives, we think there will be demand for tier II SEZs because of the strong base of engineering colleges in south TN," Mr.Parthasarathy said. Mr.Davidar added that companies prefer these towns where there is adequate social infrastructure, as compared to the barren outskirts of Chennai.
STPI has also set up incubation centers near the National Institute of Technology, Trichy and Kumaraguru college of engineering at Coimbatore. It is also setting up finishing schools near its units to coach fresh graduates.
But, the present contribution of STP units in tier II cities to the total exports is negligible at 1.1%. There are 147 STP units housed in 3 tier II cities. Geographical distribution of IT exports remained unchanged from last year, with USA forming the major chunk followed by UK, and Japan, Europe, and Asia occupying minor pieces of the pie.
Segment wise, there has been re-juggling, though. While application software
continue to dominate exports, its share has gone down from 55% to 41%. Product development has grown from 6% to 9%, system software has gone down from 17% to 7%, and BPO gone up from 4% to 6%.
2008-09, but having added 41000 jobs during the year.
The final tally released by TN IT department and STPI- Chennai on Wednesday showed a 29% growth in software exports from Tamil Nadu at Rs 36,680 crore in 2008-09 over Rs 28426 crore in 2007-08. It was Rs 20658 crore in 2006-07 when the growth rate was 37%.
Last year, the State saw a slight fall in the number of IT units added to 107 from 139 in FY08. "That, we believe, is primarily because all the major companies have already invested here," said STPI Chennai director J Parthasarathy. The figure does not include expansion by existing companies. "Also, most of the new entrants are SMEs."
The state's IT export sector employed 2.85 lakh people in STP units, and 45481 in IT and ITeS SEZs. The employee strength in STPs stood at 2.44 lakh last year, indicating a job addition of 41000. Since IT SEZs have also been a recent phenomenon, 45,481 employees in SEZ units have all been added in the past two years.
There are 28 approved IT SEZs in TN, of which 18 are in Chennai, with the rest in the tier II cities of Coimbatore, Madurai, Trichy and Salem. Of the SEZs 19 are operational, housing 52 units, compared to 34 last year. These SEZs have attracted Rs. 3063 crore investments and earned export revenue of Rs. 6102 crore in 2008-09, compared to Rs.1787 crore in 2007-08 – an impressive growth of 241%.
"We have taken a conscious decision to accelerate the growth of the IT sector in tier II cities, and hence generate more jobs there," said TN IT Secretary P W C Davidar. "By this fiscal end, we’ll complete construction of all the IT SEZs promoted by the state owned Electronics Corporation of TN (ELCOT) at Trichy, Madurai and Tirunelveli."
Earlier the state had taken a decision not to move to other towns till SEZs in these three towns were occupied. However, given the interest generated in Hosur and Salem, ELCOT has decided to begin construction there.
"Even without any special incentives, we think there will be demand for tier II SEZs because of the strong base of engineering colleges in south TN," Mr.Parthasarathy said. Mr.Davidar added that companies prefer these towns where there is adequate social infrastructure, as compared to the barren outskirts of Chennai.
STPI has also set up incubation centers near the National Institute of Technology, Trichy and Kumaraguru college of engineering at Coimbatore. It is also setting up finishing schools near its units to coach fresh graduates.
But, the present contribution of STP units in tier II cities to the total exports is negligible at 1.1%. There are 147 STP units housed in 3 tier II cities. Geographical distribution of IT exports remained unchanged from last year, with USA forming the major chunk followed by UK, and Japan, Europe, and Asia occupying minor pieces of the pie.
Segment wise, there has been re-juggling, though. While application software
continue to dominate exports, its share has gone down from 55% to 41%. Product development has grown from 6% to 9%, system software has gone down from 17% to 7%, and BPO gone up from 4% to 6%.
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