Coimbatore: With a rapidly expanding information technology infrastructure, the city is about to see a significant technological uplift.
During the recently concluded Global Investors Meet (GIM), Kumaraguru College of Technology (KCT), one of the pioneers in establishing I infrastructure in Coimbatore, signed an MOU with the state government to establish a ₹275 crore “knowledge centre” in the city.
According to KCT, the project would offer a favourable setting for multinational companies to establish offices and R&D facilities, which may result in the creation of 6,000 direct jobs and 2,000 indirect jobs. Another major participant in the industry, KGISL Infrastructures, struck an agreement at GIM for a larger investment of ₹1,000 crore to build a top-notch IT park that would serve both new and current clients of the KGISL Special Economic Zone.
This is on top of the IT parks that Rathinam Institutions, L&T, and KPR Group are developing. In the next months, the about two lakh square foot built-up area of the four-story KPR Tech Park near the city airport is anticipated to be completed. On the L&T bypass road, next to Karpagam College, construction of the L&T Tech Park has also started.
R Maheshwaran, vice-president of finance and infrastructure of KGISL Infrastructures Pvt Ltd, estimates that the KGISL Tech Park now in place is responsible for around 70% of the Coimbatore IT sector’s overall exports. It is anticipated that the new business would raise exports by 25%. Although the current tech park has employed 50,000 people since it opened in 2009, the new project would add 15,000 jobs and bring in an estimated Rs 10,000–Rs 12,000 crore annually.
According to a KCT Tech official source who spoke with TOI, the planned facility, which would take up four lakh square feet of area and be built over the course of the next three years, is expected to directly and indirectly employ 6,000 people. Eight MNCs are housed at the current KCT Tech park, which was founded in 2008 on 2.4 lakh square feet and employs over 2,500 people. Currently, there is an annual turnabout of about Rs 500 crore.
Experts argue that Coimbatore’s expanding IT infrastructure indicates that the city is becoming a highly sought-after IT location.
They made the point that not only were established businesses expanding, but also more recent ones, especially those from cities like Chennai, saw Coimbatore as a suitable substitute in the event of a flood. According to Maheswaran, the reason for the increasing demand is because Coimbatore satisfies all the requirements for the IT sector.
