Lending a helping hand: Nandan Nilekani (extreme left), chief executive officer of Infosys, greets Karnataka chief minister Dharam Singh (extreme right) as deputy chief minister S. Siddaramaiah (second from left) and Wipro chairman Azim Premji (second from right) look on after a meeting in Bangalore on Tuesday. (AFP)

Bangalore, Aug. 10: The silicon hub could cease to be the most-favoured destination of infotech companies if infrastructure problems were not addressed soon, big names in the industry warned the Karnataka coalition government on Tuesday.

Bangalore has more than 1,400 IT companies, employing about 120,000 professionals and accounting for 36 per cent of software exports. Last winter, software exports touched a record Rs 17,900 crore, while that of hardware stood at Rs 1,700 crore.

In the past four months, 63 infotech companies (41 with foreign equity) with an investment of Rs 1,000 crore were registered here, said B. V. Naidu, director of Bangalore Software Technologies Park of India.

In today’s meeting with the state government, the CEOs offered their help to ease the pressure on Bangalore and raise resources to execute infrastructure projects. They were willing to expand operations in Mysore, Mangalore, Hubli-Dharwad and Belgaum with a rider for development of airports and other facilities.

At the end of the two-hour session, chief minister Dharam Singh assured them that the government would hasten the construction of an IT corridor, a peripheral ring road (to ease traffic bound for Electronics City) and four flyovers.

Wipro chairman Azim Premji suggested that the government build self-contained townships around Bangalore to reduce pressure on the state capital. It could double the professional tax from Rs 200 to Rs 400 on Bangalore-based employees to garner additional resources worth Rs 70 crore to Rs 75 crore to improve roads, power and other amenities.

Premji summed up the meeting as “fruitful”. Tomorrow, he will meet deputy chief minister Siddaramaiah on the additional duty levied on hardware.

Infosys Technologies CEO Nandan Nilekani said a number of problems could be solved if the government implemented the commitments made in the January-31 meeting of the Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF).

“We do not see any contradiction as we are for de-congesting Bangalore, a city that accounts for 50-60 per cent of the state’s GDP in terms of taxes. We are willing to help the government,” he said.

He, however, asked the government to hasten the development process. “Bangalore today accounts for 36 per cent of domestic software exports. Whether Bangalore can retain its leadership position in the next decade, when exports are projected to grow from $15 billion to $50 billion, depends on the manner in which the government responds to infrastructure problems,” he said.

Nilekani said follow-up meetings would be held with the government on issues raised today. Another meeting between the state government and all members of the BATF (he heads this private-public participation) will be held.

“In the last five to six months, there is no perceptible slowdown in the progress of projects in Bangalore. The government, however, committed to the industry that it will complete pending projects without further delay. We feel this will make a difference for the industry as well as the citizens,” he said.

Infosys chairman N. R. Narayana Murthy did not attend the meeting as he was out of the country. Other participants included Vishwanath Iyer (IBM), Biswadip Mitra (Texas Instruments India Ltd), Romi Malhotra (Dell India), Ravi Ramu (MphasiS BFL) and Anand Iyer (American Power Corporation).

The chief minister said the state government had committed to address all issues raised by the IT industry.

“Though our government is committed to work for farmers and villagers, we are not ignoring the IT sector. We will help the industry expand not only in and around Bangalore, but also in other parts of the state,” he said.