Mangaluru as next IT hub gets a click

Road show planned in Sept; dedicated park on expanse in CBD mulled

In a bid to boost Mangaluru as the next stop for information technology (IT) and related industries, the State department of Information Technology and Bio-technology (IT and BT) has decided to set up an IT park on 10,000 square feet space in the city.

For this, a slew of activities have been planned beginning from the month of September.

In a meeting held at the deputy commissioner’s office on Thursday, it was eventually decided to host a road show in September, to attract both investors and budding entrepreneurs, especially startups. It will be followed by a plenum at Mangalore City Corporation (MCC) with select invitees not exceeding 150 to 200 people.

A local steering committee headed by the deputy commissioner comprising city corporation commissioner, ZP chief executive officer, representatives of Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI), general manager of the department of state IT and BT among others on board, will be constituted for the purpose.

Besides, it was also decided to set up the park in the central business district (CBD), preferably at malls like Forum Fiza, Excel, Empire, Bharath and also Mangalore Electricity Supply Company (Mescom) building, among other sites.

General Manager-3 of Karnataka Biotechnology and Information Technology Services (KBITS), K N Praveen said, “It is intended to target tier-II cities to make it IT friendly and also decongest the load on Bengaluru with many such parks to its credit. Last month a similar event was held at Belagavi.” The motto is to tap local talent and arrest brain drain, especially in Bengaluru, he added.

Senior consultant to KBITS Prathibha Rao said, “The state has tied up with IKP Knowledge Park for this purpose, with the thrust on creating conducive atmosphere at tier-II cities starting from Mangaluru.”

Chief Executive Officer of IKP Deepanwita Chattopadhyay said, “It is time technology and business innovations are combined for the good in 21st century.”

Vice-president of the company Vikraman said, “Most of our existing clients in Bengaluru, especially those into drones and robotics, are zeroing in on Mangaluru to expand their activities, as they intend to associate with Fisheries department.”

Rammohan Pai and Jeevan Saldanha from Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Sanjay from Infosys, entrepreneurs Praveen Kumar Kalbhavi and Gaurav, Madhavan from Keonics also attended the meeting.