Despite having been inaugurated in February 2011 itself, the sprawling IT Park at Ilanthaikulam has found only a few takers.The IT Park, a project of the Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT) was built over 28 acres has a building with 50,000 sq feet ready for occupancy by the IT Companies. The rest of the space in the premises is available for companies to build their own offices.
IT entrepreneurs in the city say the park was established at a time when the IT industry was going through a global downturn which led to many big companies who were willing to function from the district to pull out. Companies wishing to occupy space in the park have to comply with a host of conditions. “Since the park is at a Special Economic Zone, the companies are required to be involved in exports which many of our local IT companies did not meet,” said Kathir Kamanathan, Chief Executive Officer of Chella Software.
The city has 60 IT companies of which 10 have over 100 employees each. As many as 35 companies have anywhere between 30 and 100 employees and the rest have less than 10 people.
Ashwin Desai, president of Software Industries Development Association (SIDA), said many of the small IT companies were not keen on shifting to a premises located away from the city. “Many of them are still trying to stabilise their ventures and will not meet the qualifications or be ready to invest in a new space,” he explained.
Mr. Kathir, however, believes that the barriers for local companies are now being lessened which could lead to more occupancy at the IT Park in the near future. “While many local companies were hesitant to shift to an isolated work spot, development in the area at the Ilanthaikulam Park should work in its favour,” he said.
R. K. Jeyabalan, secretary of SIDA, said rent in the IT Park had been brought down to Rs. 20 per sq feet. “The rent for office space in the city are rising and the companies can avail of the added benefits of a professional environment with round-the-clock security and systematic parking at the IT Park,” he explains.