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The economic recession, par-
ticularly in the developed
countries, has been a dampener for the Indian Information
Technology/Information Technology Enabled Services (IT/ITES) such
as Business Process Outsourcing and Knowledge Process
Outsourcing (BPO and KPO) industries. To minimize the effect of rise in cost of
operations in the metropolitan cities and compete with other
low-cost countries, Corporate India is looking towards Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities
for expanding their IT/ITES businesses. In this scenario, many Tier 2
and Tier 3 cities are emerging as new investment destinations as they race
to catch up with their larger cousins.
Some cities like Pune, Vishakapatnam, etc., have
already attracted some major players in the business. Corporate India would
prefer such places as cost of real estate and manpower would be
comparatively lower. In addition, as major IT companies are already located in
the major metros, having BPO/KPO operations which require
personnel with comparatively simpler skills in the smaller cities would disperse
economic development to such places, thereby reducing pressure on
the larger cities.
The government too is facilitating this process in various ways. For
instance, the government has the Software Technology Parks of
India (STPI) scheme, whereby companies can register under the scheme,
and avail themselves of applicable tax and other benefits. The other
initiative of sanctioning Special Economic Zones (SEZ) also offers various
incentives. |
