Lucknow: All set to be the next IT destination

It is happening here as well. After taking the metros by storm, the IT revolution is now all set to sweep across Lucknow and carrying it into the exciting world of video conferencing and e-governance.

CM Rajnath Singh has given a new thrust to the slackened pace of IT policy by setting a deadline for the computerization of some major government departments in Lucknow. And now, the Delhi-based Software Technology Park of India (STPI) has evinced interest in opening a STP in Lucknow shortly.

Senior STPI officials visited the state capital recently to finalize the venue of the park. Though nothing has been officially confirmed as yet, knowledgeable sources believe that the STP would come up at the Uptron building in Gomtinagar. Going by the CM's keenness, the first STP may come up in about two-month time. The IT panel of the CII too is exploring the possibility of seeding Lucknow as a new IT city.

At a meeting, the panel discussed how Lucknow could be developed into a model city as far as IT is concerned. Speaking on the occasion, Professor Bharat Bhaskar, IIM, Lucknow, said that the total exports of the Indian software industry stood at Rs 2,45,000 crore. Shattering the myth that big players like Microsoft, Adobe and Oracle were shouldering the growth of the software industry in India, Professor Bhaskar said over 60 percent of the total exports was being carried out by Indian companies including TCS, Infosys Technologies, Wipro Technologies and

Satyam.

Referring to the rapid strides made in the IT sector by cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi, he said that like Silicon Valley, Lucknow too could exploit the potential of IIT and IIM graduates of the state and utilize their services in triggering the IT revolution in Lucknow.