Trivandrum is on its way to become the biggest IT hub in the country. Some of the prerequisites of an IT hub are excellent infrastructure, availability of qualified personnel, an environment nurturing entrepreneurship & attractive living conditions; and the city scores high on each one of these factors.
Infrastructure
Technopark, Trivandrum was set up in July 1990 to foster IT business in the state. Spread over 300 acres, and about 4.5 m. sq.ft of built-up space, it hosts over 290 companies. Technopark is expanding rapidly “Technopark phase 3 “developed on 92 acres of land, has a total area of 1 million square feet ready for occupation. Once Phase III is fully operational, it will become the biggest IT Park in the country. As Phase IV of expansion, Technopark is developing 450 acres of land in Pallippuram, 5 km north from the main campus as Technocity. Technopark has uninterrupted water & power supply. It is just 12km away from Trivandrum international airport & 15km from central railway station. Moreover the proposed monorail system will start from Pallippuram & end at Neyyatinkara covering a distance of 41.8kms making commuting easy for techies.
Availability of qualified professionals
The city is rated second in terms of availability of human talent among IT hubs. It has around 23 engineering &17 Arts & science colleges. It is also home to some of the premier research institutions like Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, the Electronics Research and Development Centre India ER & DCI, which has established itself as one of India’s premier electronics design and development centers and training centers for IBM mainframes, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (Space Launch Vehicle Design and Development activity), of the Indian Space Research Organization. The proximity to these institutions has the potential for Cross fertilization between research and tech talent.
Fostering entrepreneurship
With land acquisition, a single window clearance system, an in-house incubator & a slew of other measures the government is going the extra mile to make Trivandrum the nerve center of IT in the country. The student entrepreneurship policy of government of Kerala gives 20% attendance and 4% Grace Marks to the selected candidates. Another laudable initiative is the Kerala Self Entrepreneurship Development Mission. The main feature of the project is availing interest-free loan up to Rs 20 lakh which may go up to 50lakhs if all the members are qualified professionals to a group of five members to start a new business venture.
High quality of life
With its verdant surroundings, exotic beaches, pleasant climate, abundant rainfall & low cost of living Trivandrum is one of the best places to settle down. Trivandrum was ranked as the best city in Kerala to live in by a recent Times of India survey. The city is also ranked as the best city in India for Housing and Transport by a survey conducted by India Today. It has many places like veli, kovalam, shanghumugham, Agasthyarkoodam peak, Ponmudi, Poovar, to unwind.
With all these factors stacked in its favour Ananthapuri is surely on its way to become cyberpuri..!
I accept everything except one point. The living cost of Trivandrum is not at all low. Usually keralites come back to kerala from Chennai or Bangalore thinking that cost of living is low. Also the companies wont give much rise saying cost of living is low. It is damn equivalent to Bangalore. Even the rent and land prices are roaring. Vegetales, fruits, provision and even milk is costlier than Bangalore.
Very true Mt Nair.. Also IT export in Bangalore is that of 1.5 lakh crore per yer and that of kerala is just a meagre 3500 crore….