TCS to develop 2,000 seat facility

In an attempt to augment its presence in Gujarat, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has decided to build its first full-fleged facility in the state, which will employ over 2,000 IT professionals.

TCS CEO and Managing Director S Ramadorai along with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday took part in the `Bhoomi Pujan' ceremony of the company's new facility named `Garima Park', at Infocity, Gandhinagar.

The entry of TCS into Gujarat will have major ramifications for the development of IT sector in the state. Software firms have largely stayed away from making huge investments in the state particularly after Gujarat got a tag of being a riot-prone state in 2002.

"This facility will pave the way for Gujarat to enter the big league of IT (Information Technology). It will also help bring other software firms to the state", said Ramadorai while addressing the function.

"The first phase of the project will see 2,000 of India's best IT experts being employed", he added saying that the facility would be commissioned within a span of 18 months.

"Any investment in infrastructure will help develop the region", Ramadorai remarked.

He said that TCS's Gandhinagar facility will cater to the needs of the government and utility sector clients of the company as well as focus on ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) projects being executed by the company for the global clients.

Ramadorai said that TCS, which was already having small offices in Gandhinagar, Vadodara and Ahmedabad was offering services to state run units like GEB and GMDC, to the dairy industry and others.

Ramadorai, however, did not quantify the exact amount of investment that TCS would make in developing `Garima Park' which would be completed in three phases.

"The facility will employ about 5,000 professsionals once the third phase is completed", Ramadorai said adding, "during the first phase, we would develop 20 of the total 35 acres of the park".

Quoting a Nascomm-Mc Kensey study he stated that India would be requiring about 9 million IT professionals by the year 2010.

"At present there are about 3.2 million IT professionals employed in India and if we go by the predictions made in the study, there would be a short fall of 5,00,000 persons."

"A large number of the (Human Resource) shorfall has to come from Gujarat," he remarked.

TCS will be associating with major academic institutions in Gujarat to train the needed workforce for its upcoming facility, Ramadorai said.

He said that TCS was recruiting about 16,000 IT professionals every year and it sourced students from Engineering and management institutions across the country.

"I am optimistic of the possibility of growth in Gujarat", Ramadorai said while crediting the recent developments that has happened in Gujarat to Modi's leadership.

Addressing the gathering, Modi described the TCS facility as a "major breakthrough" in the IT sector of the state and said the development would help change the "old perceptions" about Gujarat. Modi also said his government was contemplating on developing a Special Economic Zone for software.