Kumarswamy calls upon IT bigwigs to invest in Hubli-Dharwad

Hubli, May 20 (UNI) Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumarswamy today asserted that his government was committed to take Information Technology to secondary cities and called upon IT Companies to invest in North-Karnataka region promising all necessary assistance to investors and entrepreneurs.

Inaugurating a convention of IT investors here, he said ''It is my long cherished dream that Hubli-Dharwad region should also become an IT Hub in the state''. He said the region was the second largest in the state after Bangalore and had a literacy rate of over 72 per cent accounting for a large pool of educated youth who could be fruitfully employed by the IT industry, especially in the ITes and BPO sectors.

Referring to the NASSCOM-Mckiney report that put the number of IT professionals in Karnataka at one million by 2010, Mr Kumaraswamy said ''I want at least 30 per cent of them to be located in North Karnataka''. He lauded the efforts of NASSCOM to take up the initiative of making graduates from Northern Karnataka 'IT Ready'.

Asserting that Karnataka was the undisputed IT leader in the country, the chief minister said the state has consistently been the front runner in IT since 1998, generating software exports of over Rs 37,600 crores during the financial year 2005-06.

He said the growth rate recorded was 36 per cent over the previous year. The share of Karnataka in the national IT exports was over 37 per cent and a large part of this share was contributed by Bangalore, which has over 1,650 IT companies.

He said the Hubli airport was being upgraded to accommodate bigger aircraft. With Goa and Karwar offering ideal beach resorts for weekend get-aways, Hubli was ideally located for work as well as pleasure. ''It is my fond wish that Belgaum and Hubli-Dharwad cities should drive the information technology revolution in north Karnataka. My government has already laid the foundations for attracting investors to these cities,'' he added.

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