The Hindu

• They will be established with the help of Singapore Government
• They will be on the lines of the park in Bangalore
• Chief Minister meets delegations from Singapore, Kuwait

Bangalore, Jan 18: To meet the growing demand for building space by the information technology companies, both domestic and foreign, in Bangalore, the Government has decided to set up three more international technology parks in the State, with the participation of Singapore Government.

Addressing presspersons here on Wednesday January 17, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said the parks would be established in Mangalore, Mysore and Belgaum on the lines of International Tech Park Limited, Bangalore (ITPB). The ITPB houses over a 100 information technology (IT) and business process outsourcing (BPO) firms.

The ITPB is the icon of country's IT success story, and continues its contribution to the development of Whitefield as a major IT hub in India's Silicon Valley. Located 18 km from the city centre, ITPB catalysed the growth of a burgeoning suburban city at Whitefield. It was developed by a three-way joint venture comprising a Singapore-based consortium, the Tata Group and the State Government.

The Chief Minister met delegations from Singapore, Kuwait and South Korea at today's Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) summit here and appealed to them to invest in infrastructure, oil exploration and fertilizer projects in the State.

Mr. Kumaraswamy said the Government had decided to promote IT in second tier cities and hence Mangalore, Mysore and Belguam had been identified for establishing the technology parks. The Government had requested the Singapore Government and business leaders there to invest in these parks. Companies at these parks would be assured of reliable solutions and services to support their operations round-the-clock, he said.

The IT industry was facing space constraint as land was not available to set up companies in the city limits. Further, building rent had increased in the recent years following the real estate boom.

Mr. Kumaraswamy said the Kuwait delegation had shown interest in oil exploration in the coastal parts of the State. The South Korean delegation was keen on investing in fertilizer and steel industry. He said airports in second tier cities would be upgraded on public private partnership with active participation of the Singapore business leaders. The Singapore Government would soon open a consulate in Bangalore, he said.

To promote trade ties between Karnataka and South Korea, the latter had requested the Government to send a delegation to Seoul, the Chief Minister said.