“We were all inventing something new, together.”Mr Vasudevan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM,KERALA, July 5, 2013 /EINPresswire.com/ -- “We were all inventing something new, together.”

Oracle, UST Global, SunTec, IBS, Toonz Animation, Ernst & Young, Allianz…the list goes on…and on. 280 companies have already located in Trivandrum’s growing Technopark and Mr Vasudevan, Senior Manager of Business Development knows the number is going to rise, dramatically. Why does he believe this? We caught up with him to talk about the future of the park, Kerala’s future as an IT hub. In Conversation with Georgia Forsyth Sypestyn

With the third phase in sight, how has the journey been over implementing the past phases to today, and what challenges have you faced and overcome?
Developing and marketing the Technopark, the first Technology Park in the country in Trivandrum has been a challenge and a learning experience. Trivandrum in the early 1990s was not thought to be “an industrial friendly location in India even though it was the capital of Kerala and a top tourist destination. Although the small capital had the highest literacy rate in the whole of the country its lack of quality infrastructure and availability of middle level managers were some of the problems. So, the government wanted a special place in which businesses would want to locate. Technopark chose to locate itself close to the University of Kerala forging Government-Industry-University linkage by acquiring 150 acres of land for its first phase development. Kerala Government chose Trivandrum because it had a lot of inherent strengths including a good international airport close to Technopark, good educational institutions for primary and higher education, quality research and development establishments/ institutions in space, IT/BT, imaging, medical research, science & technology, earth science, interdisciplinary science and technology, science education and research and tuber research.”

What does this IT Park offer that other parks outside India do not?
Technopark provides global standard IT/ITeS infrastructure for companies including world class office and convention space, uninterrupted power, water, telecom and datacom services and provides total support to companies setting up their operations in the Park. The Government of India supports all administrative clearances through single window Special Economic Zone Scheme which enables speedy clearances for foreign investment.

What businesses are you hoping to attract?
Technopark is now hoping to attract top IT companies who are into product research, games and telecom development in addition to large companies who are into providing IT solutions and service. When you look at India and Kerala, we have a demographic advantage. In the developed countries, we have an aging population whereas in India/Kerala, we would continue to have a relatively young population. So outsourcing to India may be an imperative to overcome the demographic issues facing the developed countries and many more companies will be forced to outsource or set up companies in India. We also have a growing ecosystem in IT. We have companies in Technopark working on all parts of IT value chain – product design, system software, application software, IT services, infrastructure management, and business process management. As companies look to source services from the eco-system Technopark and Technocity would be important destinations for the same.

What areas, according to your international experience, do the Keralites need to improve to compete in the global business market?
Most of the people have travelled abroad and seen the developments taking place elsewhere in the world and have interacted with people abroad. The Government is putting in place various schemes for skill enhancement and capacity building. We also need to take care of our physical and social infrastructure. Once these things are taken care of, Kerala can be the best place to work and live in the whole world.

What kind of incentive schemes are the Kerala government implementing to attract global business and students to the region?
IT companies are not looking for any major incentives from the Government. They are looking forward to three major resources – human resources, quality infrastructure, lower cost of operations and high quality of life and Trivandrum offers all the above. The Government of Kerala also offers 25% grant on fixed capital investment limited to Rs. 2.5 million for companies who set up their operations in Kerala. Companies who set up their operations in Technopark’s Special Economic Zones get all tax exemptions.

Aishwarya
Thought FactoryPR
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