CITY PROFILE: CHENNAI

The Next IT Capital

When
the information technology wave started lapping the shores of the country in
1980s, Chennai emerged as the ideal destination for many companies. This was
largely because of its large talent pool and highly skilled labor coupled with
'work is worship' culture. Even, within India, it caught the attention of
many local investors who wanted to expand their base nationally. Today, Chennai
is home to several IT companies, as it offers good support in terms of power,
infrastructure, professionals, technology and policies.

Some feel that Chennai is well on its way to snatch the coveted title of 'Desired
IT Destination' from Bangalore. After all, it is part of the state, which is
home to several firsts in business. It was the first to introduce a
comprehensive IT policy, the first to develop infrastructure for IT, the first
to attract the largest private ISPs, among other things.

A large number of multinationals are considering Chennai as a major center
for their operations-not only for its ideal business climate-but also
because it is emerging as a modern, cosmopolitan city. Besides the state's
commercial appeal, the government has gone a long way in advocating
e-governance, with several

departments being computerized and the Internet being taken down to the rural
levels.

There are several companies setting up their world's largest facility here.
The names include Infosys, which is putting up 35 lakh sq ft campus to house
25,000 professionals. Recently, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has acquired 70
acres of land in Siruseri-on the IT corridor-and expects it to be
operational by 2005. This will see TCS having a workforce of 13,000
professionals in Chennai alone, in the next three years. Wipro, Satyam, Polaris,
Hexaware, Synctel, Cognizant, Sutherland Global and World Bank are some of the
leading IT companies that are ramping up their operations here.

On
the infrastructure side, ELCOT has recently promoted 25 private IT parks to add
more than 3.3 million sq ft of IT space in the region. Tidel, a 1.3 million sq
ft technology park, houses some of the biggest names in the IT industry.
Knowledge Industry Townships (KITs) is going to come up along the Old
Mahabalipuram Road in the IT Corridor of about 3,000 acres of land. Mahindra
City is a 1400-acre project offering world-class infrastructure with the best
social amenities.

Chennai
has also an excellent communication channel with international submarine cables
from private players. Apart from that, STPI and VSNL are also providing
international data links. Meanwhile, the State has an Optic Fiber Cable network
of 44,000 route kilometers connecting all cities and towns across the region.

All these mean that Chennai offers a huge opportunity for system integrators
and other channel partners in business. The business is growing at a rapid pace
and every new investment that happens into this city only translates into a new
opportunity beckoning the local solution providers to cash on.

S GOPIKRISHNA