Orissa records 39 percent growth in software exports

Kolkata/Bhubaneswar
Business Standard The Pioneer The Hindu
Orissa has recoded a 39.04 percent growth in software exports in 2008-09. In value terms the software exports from the state reached Rs 1168 crore as against Rs 840 crore in 2007-08.

This growth is achieved in the backdrop of global economic meltdown which began from the second half of 2008-09 and had impacted the operations of the software service providers. The state’s growth rate of 39.04 percent in software exports is higher than the national average of 21 percent.

Addressing media persons here, Pradipta K Mohapatra, the state IT secretary said, “Despite the economic slowdown and its significant impact on the IT sector, Orissa has achieved software exports worth Rs 1168 crore in 2008-09. Apart from Orissa, Kerala and Gujarat are the other two states which have crossed Rs 1,000 crore in terms of software exports.”

The software exports from the state are projected at $1 billion (around Rs 5,000 crore) by the end of 2012-13.

While Infosys Technologies was the biggest software exporter from the state accounting for more than 70 percent of the total exports in 2008-09, Mahindra Satyam (formerly Satyam Computer Services) was the second largest exporter at Rs 191 crore.

Manas R Panda, joint director, STPI-Bhubaneswar said, “Software exports from Orissa which started with Rs 5 crore in 1997-98 have reached Rs 1,168 crore in 2008-09. Similarly, the number of IT units in the state registered under the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) scheme has gone up from 29 in 2001-02 to 112 in 2008-09.”

Orissa has got approvals for four IT SEZs (Special Economic Zones) out of which two have been notified- Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Kalinga Park spread over 45 acres and the DLF Infopark on a 54-acre plot. Out of the two notified IT SEZs in Orissa, the TCS Kalinga Park has been operational and the software major, which started operations from January this year, has exported software services worth Rs 6 core by the end of 2008-09. The other IT SEZ being developed by DLF is on the verge of being de-notified. DLF had sought de-notification of the IT SEZ and it has got in-principle approval from the Centre for the de-notification.

“DLF would now develop the Infopark project under the STPI scheme. While 50 percent of the total land area of 54 acres would be devoted to the IT park, the remaining 50 percent would be earmarked for commercial real estate like malls, hotels and service apartments”, said Mohapatra. The Orissa government was also going ahead with the Infocity-II project which is being developed on over 600 acres of land at Janla, about 15 km from the city.

“The Infocity-II project is expected to be fully operational within four years. The state government has made a budgetary allocation of Rs 150 crore for developing external infrastructure for the project like roads, water and electricity, added Mohapatra. Asked on the status of the other IT projects in the state, he said, “The IT investors like MindTree Consulting, Genpact Limited and Zensar Technologies were going slow on the construction work due to the prevailing economic downturn. The IT industry is in a recovery phase and we expect these IT players to resume construction work soon.”