Close on the heels of Syntel Chairman Bharat Desai's visit last week, senior executives of the New York Stock Exchange-listed business process outsourcing player, WNS Global Services, were at the Tiruchi IT Park, evaluating scope for starting a development centre.
Sanjay Puria, Senior Vice-President – Finance, and Sulakshana Patankar, Business Unit Leader, who were taken around the IT Park and the city were impressed by the promising work environment Tiruchi could offer as a tier-II city in terms of quality human resource; road, rail and air connectivity; and the ambience that BPO professionals would look for, ELCOT officials said. The multinational company with headquarters in USA and UK has a strong presence in Gurgaon, Pune and Mumbai,
The WNS executives had earlier visited the IT Parks in Tirunelveli and Madurai as well, and would make their preference known in due course, an official said, adding that at the Navalpattu IT Park building, ELCOT was in a position to rent out to the company the entire 25,000 square feet space in the second floor. Besides, the WNS was also looking for land to an extent of ten acres to start their own facility in the 147-acre SEZ (Special Economic Zone) area. The company, ELCOT officials said, was keen on interacting with students in the region to quell misconceptions about BPO jobs.
As for ELCOT, re-laying of the about six-kilometre 120 feet link road connecting the IT Park with the Tiruchi-Pudukkottai National Highway is a key factor for showcasing the intrinsic value of the SEZ location. ELCOT officials are able to make out the discomfiture of prospective investors when they are taken to the IT Park through a circuitous route, which, in fact, creates an impression that the city is located farther from the park.
The Government departments are seized of the matter, it is learnt. A government order transferring the road from the purview of the rural development department to the highways department is what is needed now for making the IT Park an attractive investment destination, official sources said, indicating that Rs.10 crore would be spent on re-laying the link road.
Meanwhile, Assist International, i-link software private limited, and Seventh Sense Technologies to whom 10,000 square feet built up space in the ELCOT's 50,000 square feet building has been rented out have commenced interior works.
So far, in-principle allotment orders for land in the SEZ area have been given to ten companies. Tiruchi-based e-Quadriga, which has applied for three acres of land, will be the eleventh company. After allotting land to these companies, sparing ten acres for a power sub-station, earmarking seven acres for internal roads, and sparing 14 acres for Open Space Reservation, the ELCOT will be left with about sixty acres to make future allotments.
