Stroke of bad luck?

Ranchi, Jan. 14: After miring several technical colleges and a much-hyped highway project in uncertainties, the Satyam fraud is now threatening to throw off track an ambitious proposal to set up an IT-enabled services centre at the software technology park (STPI) in Ranchi.

In June last year, Satyam Computer Services had proposed an investment of Rs 50 crore for the centre at the STPI in the Namkum industrial area. The plan was to set up a software development unit, besides a call centre. Though talks were still at a nascent stage, the government had until recently, been sanguine that Satyam would make forays into the state.

“The software giant was one of the many companies that had responded to our proposal last year. Initial talks were positive. But the recent developments have cast a shadow on the project. Company officials are yet to communicate to us their plans for Jharkhand,” said Siddharth Rai, the assistant director of the software technology park in Ranchi. He added that they were contemplating talks with the new board members of Satyam to know the status of the project. Sources claimed that the STPI authorities were proactive in pursuing the proposal because if a corporate major like Satyam opened a unit in the state, it would mean more job opportunities and an environment conducive to development of the IT sector.

They said talks were also on with Wipro. The government is planning to offer free land and other needed infrastructure to the company. After having roped in US-based software firm NathCorp and Scorpion Teletech, the buoyed STPI authorities were looking for more greener pastures, but now the developments at Satyam have dimmed hopes.

Rai said Scorpion would start its operations soon. It is in the process of obtaining a work order from its parent company based in Noida, he added. NathCorp has already opened shop in the Ashoknagar area of the capital.

Though not on the STPI premises, it draws support from the park. On January 12, The Telegraph had reported how the Satyam fraud was likely to affect the job prospects of more than 100 students of technical institutions such as ISMU, Dhanbad, and BIT, Sindri and Mesra.

Besides, Maytas Infrastructure, the company headed by the sons of Satyam’s former chairman B. Ramalinga Raju, happens to be one of the three final bidders in the four-laning project of NH-33 between Hazaribagh and Ranchi. The estimated cost of the project is more than Rs 580 crore.