Tourism Plus IT = Kerala

Taking a cue from the success of Bangalore, Gurgaon and Hyderabad as some of the hot IT destinations in India, the green state of Kerala is all set to follow suit. Recently, at the major IT event, IT Kerala 2006, nearly a hundred IT and IteS sector companies converged to display their products and services, and to discuss business and investment plans to bring about this progress. These included TCS, Intel, Infosys, L&T, Tulip IT Services, NeST, IBS, Oracle, Intel, Microsoft, Bharati, Reliance, Sutherland, HP, Dell, 24/7 Customer Care, Rittal India and many more companies.

IT Secretary, P H. Kurien informed that the Kerala government would position Kottayam, Thrissur, Kannur and Kozhikode as satellite IT destinations in the state, since present IT activities were presently concentrated around Thiruvananthapuram - the state capital, and Kochi. Major business plans, expansions and investments were also announced at the four-day event. Infosys announced its intention to invest Rs1.5 billion in three phases and raise the headcount in Kerala by 3750 people. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), will be investing Rs2.5 billion to set up a software development center at the Technopark campus to upgrade its existing training facility there and provide jobs for 5,000 software professionals. The U.S. based BPO firm Sutherland Global Services has plans to invest over Rs120 crore to create service delivery center and training infrastructure on 20 acres of land in Kochi. The company expects to hire 3,000 professionals over the next three years in the first phase for its Kerala operations.

Good to see that Gods own country is finally diverting into other sectors also, than just tourism! Also probably more Gods own people and work in home place, close to thier near and dear ones...