Flash-Headline :LAND FOR IT PARK ALLOTTED TO DLF AT CHEAP RATES: CONGRESS

INDUSTRY
CHANDIGARH A PREFERRED DESTINATION FOR IT COMPANIES
Chandigarh
The Economic Times The Indian ExpressChandigarh has emerged as a preferred destination for the IT companies as per the recent report of Jones Lang Lasalle on "World Winning Cities Series-Emerging City Winners 2006".
Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Indore, Nagpur and Chandigarh were taken up for the study as Tier III cities under the subject series about "India-The Next IT offshoring locations", said an official release issued here.
The Country Head, Jones Lang Lasalle, India, Vincent Lottefier said, "This report identifies the five leading tier III cities at the present time. Of these, Chandigarh and Kolkata are best positioned to mature into major centres over the next five years."
As per the report, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh were likely to be the winners among the firms seeking lower costs.
With lower wage rates and a significant pool of skilled staff, the Tier III cities are emerging as the favoured destinations to sustain the competitive advantage in the near future, it said.
Chandigarh and Ahmedabad have also emerged as the most preferred destinations for companies requiring non-specialised labour.
The report said that Dell selected Mohali near Chandigarh due to the availability of talented work force and Chandigarh's high quality of life. Chandigarh has also been rated the best city in North India for providing all hygiene factors for living standards.
The report also mentioned that the efficient and pro-active administration of Chandigarh would be a key benefit to the IT companies that are considering expansion to the city.
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BANGALORE AMONG BEST PLACES TO DO BIZ IN THE WORLD
New Delhi
The Hindu Business Line Mint The Times of India India's growing presence in the global economic arena has received a boost with Bangalore emerging as one of the best places to do business in the world, joining the league of cities like London, Shanghai and Singapore, a latest study says.
Bangalore, known as the world's back office, is among the 12 cities named in the 'Best places to do business in the wired world' list recently compiled by Business 2.0, a magazines published by global media giant CNN-Time Warner group.
Other cities, which find a place on the list, are - Tokyo, Hong Kong, Barcelona (Spain), Helsinki (Finland), Seoul, Stockholm (Sweden), Tallinn (Estonia) and Tel Aviv (Israel).
"The city is home to Infosys, Google's Research and Development Center, and some of the world's most talented (and inexpensive) software engineers," the report said while describing Bangalore.
Each place is described along with the availability of free Wi-Fi points, best place to get down to business, best place to celebrate closing the deal and tips on how to get around.
Interestingly, the list also offers the address of saloon to get a good haircut apart from trivia about every city.
On the 'What you might not know' section on Bangalore, the report says, "Residents call their city Bengalooru. Like Bombay (now Mumbai), the city was renamed to make it sound more Indian than British."
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INDO-US TASK FORCE ON GLOBAL INNOVATION: FICCI
New Delhi
Mint
In a bid to ward off the emergence of possible friction between India and US over rise of Indian innovation, Ficci and the Los Angeles-based Pacific Council on International Policy have joined hands in establishing a Task Force of business leaders on both sides on "Shaping global innovation economy: enhancing cooperation in India-US relations".
The Task Force, drawn from various high technology sectors, will look at issues that will shape the global innovation economy and identify areas of cooperation between India and US.
Business leaders from both sides will address Policy and Political Aspects in US-Indian Innovation Economy Trade & Investments; Information and Communication Technology Sector; Bio, Life Sciences & Nano Technology Sector; ; Energy and Environmental Technology Sector; Creative Industry, Services and Design Vertical; and Aero - Space Technology Sector.

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ENTREPRENEUR DEVELOPMENT CENTRE TO SUPPORT IT COMPANIES
Preeti Parashar, Chandigarh
The Financial Express The much-awaited Entrepreneur Development Centre (EDC) to come up at the Rajiv Gandhi Chandigarh Technology Park (RGCTP) has got underway with the construction work. The Chandigarh IT department's initiative will serve as an incubation centre facilitating start-ups by providing the infrastructural support. The contractor- Sam (India) Built Well Pvt Ltd plans to develop the center within 15 months over the sprawling 1.5 acres.
The project will entail a total investment of about Rs 15 crore and is likely to house small entrepreneurs, software developers, R&D companies, IT/ITES, KPO etc. "About 6-7 companies that are already operational at the Society for Promotion of Information Technology in Chandigarh (SPIC) centre have evinced interest to occupy space at the EDC. The rentals will be competitive enough and a minimum office space of 1,000 acres will be allotted to the interested company. The companies can operate from the EDC for four years including one year extension and then they'll have to move," a senior official said.
"The center would be developed and would operate on the lines of the SPIC centre. It would mainly focus on providing all the facilities to the smaller IT companies so that they can carry on their operations by renting a space in the RGCTP. Eventually the Regional Cyber Security Research Centre, presently functional at Punjab Engineering College, would be shifted to the EDC," added the official.
The administration is pinning high hopes from the EDC to become a big software export centre and boost the software exports from the region. The project was approved in august 2006 to facilitate the IT software export companies that are willing to come to the park, but as yet does not have a fully developed building of their own, or their built to suite plot is not yet constructed. This will also have the administrative offices of the IT dept that will be more accessible and approachable for the IT companies in the vicinity.
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CITY TO BE IT HUB IN 5 YEARS, SAYS REPORT
Chandigarh
Hindustan Times (Chandigarh edition)Among emerging preferred destinations for IT companies is where an international survey has put Chandigarh.
The report "World Winning Cities Series: Emerging City Winners 2006" released recently by Jones Lang Lasalle presents data from Tier-III cities Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Indore and Nagpur studied for pinpointing the Next IT offshoring hubs in India.
Jones Lang Lasalle country head Vincent Lottefier says: "The report identifies five leading Tier-III cities for IT potential. Of these, Chandigarh and Kolkata are best positioned to mature into major centres within five years."
Ahmedabad and Chandigarh were likely to be picked as winners by firms seeking lower costs.
With lower wage rates and a significant pool of skilled workers, the Tier-III cities might be the favoured destinations in future to sustain competitive advantage. Chandigarh and Ahmedabad have also emerged as the most preferred destinations for companies requiring non-specialised labour.
Dell picked Mohali near Chandigarh to set up its captive BPO after looking at the availability of talented workforce and the city's high quality of life.
Chandigarh has also been rated the best city in north India satisfying all hygiene norms.
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QUALITY, KEY CHALLENGE FOR IT COS
Bangalore
Deccan Herald The Hindu
Nasscom Chairman Lakshmi Narayanan says that the customers abroad were not too pleased with the quality of delivery by Indian companies.
Brand India has now emerged as a trusted name in terms of quality. Amidst all the challenges, Indian IT image has helped raise the quality image of the country internationally. But when it comes to delivery, Nasscom Chairman Lakshmi Narayanan feels that we need to improve a lot. Addressing the gathering at the Nasscom Quality Summit here on Thursday he said that the customers abroad were not too pleased with the quality of delivery by Indian companies.
Narrating his experience with the during interactions with foreign consumers about Indian IT services, Lakshmi Narayanan said " I had felt that their perspective of Indian IT sector's excellence was different than those of Indian customers.
Though we have achieved a quite a bit at the in processes or products, the quality within was something it had only started to learn ". Speaking on the relevance of quality in the global context, Nasscom President Kiran Karnik said, "Quality is more to do with structure and discipline while innovation needs creativity which is not so disciplined." The other area of concern is the availability of suitable manpower, he informed.
On the same lines Motorola Software Group India Managing Director Soumitra Sana said: "Since India now plays a major role in product development life cycle, it is all the more important to look at quality of experience; reliability, security, usability — all leads to customer delight." Engineers can look at quality matrix to improve performance. This saves a lot of cost for quality enhancing for organisations, he added.
One of the points of discussion was the role of a CEO in quality management. Here the CEO has to define quality, show how to focus, demonstrate in action and translate it to employees.
The quality in process has to be internalised for organisations and needs to become inherent to individuals.
Among all success stories the key challenges hovering around the IT industry were exchange rates concerns, which is stabilised to some extent and lack of regulatory environment especially the tax regime and STPI policy.
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INDIAN FIRMS OUTSHINE OTHERS IN FORBES ASIA 'FABULOUS 50' LIST
Dalian (China)
The Hindu Business Line Mint The Financial Express DNA Deccan Herald The Hindu Mumbai MirrorChina may be the 'world's factory,' but Indian companies, led by software giants TCS and Infosys, continue to outshine and dominate the annual ranking of big-cap, profitable companies in Asia.
A total of 12 Indian companies made it to the third annual Forbes Asia Fabulous 50 List, followed by Taiwan with 10 and China with seven, Forbes Asia said in a press release.
Four of India's IT outsourcing companies made the cut including the biggest, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) that writes software for leading American firms. Its revenues leapt 45 percent in the last year and its market capitalisation has doubled since listing three years ago to cross the $27 billion mark, the release said.
Tata earns nearly all of its revenues overseas but will move some of its work back to India, it said.
The 12 Indian companies on the Forbes Asia 'Fabulous 50' list are: Bharat Heavy Electricals, Bharti Airtel, Grasim Industries, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Infosys Technologies, Larsen & Toubro, Reliance Industries, Satyam Computer Services, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Steel and Wipro.
Most of the Indian firms on the list, however, did not have to leave home to find success, the release noted. With a relatively young population of 1.1 billion, India has its own huge market.
Companies such as ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Bharti Airtel are growing fast by reaching out to the country's rural customers, not to Western markets.
Others, such as Grasim, Larsen & Toubro and Reliance, are shoring up the country's infrastructure at a furious pace.
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IT PARKS/SEZ
LAND FOR IT PARK ALLOTTED TO DLF AT CHEAP RATES: CONGRESS
Gandhinagar
The Economic TimesDemanding inquiry against Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the Leader of Opposition Arjun Modivadia on Thursday alleged the state government of indulging in corruption while allotting land to real-estate developer DLF for construction of an IT Park SEZ here.
"The state government has given 25 acre land in Gandhinagar for constructing an Information Technology (IT) Park to DLF for just Rs 50 crore," Modhvadia said claiming the land was worth Rs 125 crore as per existing market rates.
"The state government is engaged in corruption. Prime land has been sold to DLF at throw away prices at the instance of the chief minister," he alleged.
"Even if the price of land is calculated as per existing government rules, the IT Park is worth Rs 90 crore", he claimed.
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KERALA GOVT TO FLOAT FIRM FOR IT PARK PROJECTS
Sanjeev Ramachandran, Chennai/ Thiruvananthapuram
Business Standard
The Kerala department of information technology has firmed up plans to float an IT infrastructure company soon.
According to N Radhakrishnan Nair, chief executive officer of Thiruvananthapuram Technopark and Kochi Infopark, the government will hold 51 percent in the new venture and the remaining will have private participation.
"The new company, which is yet to be named, will be an apex body that will undertake and monitor works relating to building IT parks across the state."
In each IT park project, the company will hold 26 percent and the remaining will be open to private participation.
District centres will house information technology parks, with the government already having lined up proposals for a hub-and-spoke model of IT infrastructure.
Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi would play the hubs. Special purpose vehicles (SPVs) will be formed to take up the projects in district centres. A study on this is currently being undertaken by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC).
The first such IT park has been proposed to come up in Kozhikode on 75 acres of land.
The project has been proposed to come up on 507 acres of land and is estimated to incur an investment of Rs 4,500 crore. It is being planned as a fully integrated IT city, complete with all infrastructure facilities and public amenities.
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M&A
COGNIZANT EYES BUYS IN EUROPE, US
Bangalore
The Hindu Business Line Business Standard Deccan Herald The Financial ExpressIT firm Cognizant Technology Solutions is looking for acquisitions in consulting space in Europe and the US, Lakshmi Narayanan, Vice-Chairman of the company said.
"We are looking at specific opportunities in the consulting end in certain geographies where we are not operating," Narayanan said on the sidelines of a NASSCOM-organised quality summit here.
The company is eyeing consulting firms in Europe and the US but would not say if it is evaluating a few candidates at this stage or is in active discussion with firms for potential buy-out.
Narayanan said the company aims to add 9,000 people to its roll by December-end, taking the overall headcount to 55,000.
According to him, the company is in the process of investing $300 million in creating infrastructure and workspace in tier-I and tier-II cities.
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MASTEK SETS SIGHTS ON BUYOUTS IN US, UK
Mumbai
The Economic Times Mint Business Standard
Indian software services provider Mastek, which recently got a makeover with a new management team, is pursuing acquisitions in the US and UK to help enhance its insurance software, Elixir.
The firm has begun talks with target companies and has sought shareholder approval to raise Rs 150 crore overseas.
Mastek Group chief financial officer (CFO) and finance director R S Desikan said the company had intentionally not added certain functionalities in Elixir and the acquisitions would fill those gaps. "We have a team in the US for M&A," he added.
The company had cash and invested funds of nearly Rs 120 crore as on June 30. Part of the money would be used for capital expenditure and the rest would be available for acquisitions. Fresh funds would be raised through overseas convertible bonds or external commercial borrowings.
In June, Mastek acquired Vector Insurance Services LLC, a provider of policy acquisition, administration, and processing solutions to insurance customers in the North America.
However, this was a small acquisition involving an upfront payment of $ 4.5 million and with a similar amount payable over the next two years as earnouts.
The company is also expanding its employee strength and has set aside Rs 80 crore for a new campus coming up in Chennai on 15 acres of land. "In the first phase, we will add 1,500 people and the same number every year after that," according to Desikan.
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SOFTWARE
YOU TELECOM LAUNCHES SME SOLUTIONS
Mumbai
The Economic TimesYOU Telecom Thursday announced a partnership with Elitecore Technologies Ltd to provide security solutions to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across the country.
YOU Telecom said it would provide the Cyberoam facility, an identity-based unified threat management appliance, to bring a strong and unique security solution to its leased line and SME customer base across the country.
The company, which is India's second largest private broadband Internet service provider (ISP), will also act as a national system integrator partner for Cyberoam.
The Carlyle Group, the global private equity firm, funds Elitecore, a leading provider of convergent billing and unified threat management (UTM) solutions.
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HCL TO LAUNCH NEW MGMT OUTSOURCING MODEL AT GITEX IN DUBAI
New Delhi
The Economic Times The Hindu Business LineIT solution provider HCL Technologies on Thursday said it is planning a global launch of its new IT management outsourcing model at Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (Gitex), the largest IT expo in the Middle East, starting from September 8.
"With our participation in Gitex we plan to showcase our domain expertise, mature global delivery model, proven project management skills and domain expertise to customers in Middle East," HCL Technologies Country Manager Kiran Bhagwanani said in a statement.
The company, participating in the five-day event for the first time, would showcase its integrated IT services offerings along with a new IT management model for GCC.
HCL would build its stall on 'Explore and Transform' theme exhibiting a range of integrated IT solutions and services for business transformation covering the end-to-end of IT spectrum, it said.
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INTENSE TO SET UP SUBSIDIARY TO MARKET PRODUCTS
K Rajani Kanth, Chennai/ Hyderabad
Business Standard
With orders for conversion of paper documents into digital documents and the compliance requirements by the income tax department on the rise, software Products Company, Intense Technologies Limited has embarked on a product alignment strategy.
The Hyderabad-based company recently clubbed two of its products, eTaxFile and eDoc, into volume business and is in the process of establishing a separate division to market them. In volume business, the value of the licence will be low but the number of licences that the company offers to its customers will be more.
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IBM OPENS BANGALORE CENTRE
Mumbai
Business Standard The Tribune The Hindu
IBM and UK-based Innovation Group — providing outsourcing services and software solutions to insurance companies — on Thursday launched a Global Insurance Center of Excellence in Bangalore. The new centre, based at IBM's campus, provides clients with systems integration services based on Innovation Group's Innovation Policy and Innovation Claims software applications. The centre will help companies in the insurance sector innovate on next generation core systems, help them develop new business models, and tap emerging technologies to create competitive advantage and improve the customer experience.
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HARDWARE
SOLAR SEMICONDUCTOR SIGNS RS 55 CRORE SUPPLY DEAL
Hyderabad
The Economic Times US-based Solar Semiconductor on Thursday announced it has signed a deal worth 10 million Euro (Rs 55 crore) for supply of PV modules to a European customer.
The product will be manufactured in Solar Semiconductor's module manufacturing facility on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
Company chief executive officer Hari Surapaneni said the company will be investing USD 40 million in current fiscal for its independent solar PV Crystalline cells and module manufacturing unit in the Fabcity here while the master plan envisages an investment of over USD 1.1 billion.
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LOGITECH SET TO ENTER CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SPACE
Pallavi Jha, Mumbai
Business Standard
Logitech Electronics India, a subsidiary of the $2.2 billion Swiss-based Logitech, is set to enter the consumer electronics segment in the country with a new product range by the end of this month. The company will launch three new products, wireless DJ, a streaming music solution that can stream music from a PC to a music system (Squeexbox music system) and a universal remote.
The company has been catering to the PC peripheral markets till date with products such as keyboards, mouse, webcams and audio speakers.
"We are now concentrating on the consumer electronics segment in India. It is a fast-growing segment and a major focus area for us," said Moninder Jain, director, India and South East Asia, Logitech.
According to Jain, there is an increasing demand for non-IT peripherals in the home and personal entertainment space. "This new segment is like a parallel track for our company. It is a new but growing segment. 'We are well-established in the IT segment.' said Jain. Logitech is looking at leveraging its distribution network with modern retail format stores and consumer electronic stores to sell its products. "We have relationships with almost all the modern retail format stores and consumer electronic stores. Hence, we will be stocking our products there," said Jain. The company works with four distributors, Ingram, Rashi Peripherals, Neoteric and Savex.
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INT/E-COMM
IPTV RULES FOR TELCOS IRK CABLE OPERATORS
Sreejiraj Eluvangal
Mint The Economic Times The Pioneer
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Thursday spelt out its position that the delivery of TV channels on local telecom networks using Internet protocol technology (IPTV) does not come under the definition of "cable TV".
The regulator's opinion comes at a time when an inter-ministerial task force of the department of telecommunications (DoT) and the ministry of information and broadcasting is working out a policy on IPTV. Cable operators fear that the position, if accepted by the task force, may set back their ability to launch IPTV services