Kerala is all set to woo IT companies to set shop in the State by showcasing its advantages while utilising the disruption caused in the industry by the pandemic. About 70 IT companies have been identified as potential investors to be invited at the State government-level.
Companies that have invested elsewhere in the country but are yet to have footprint in the State and employing a chunk of techies from Kerala have been included on the list.
Infoparks, IT dept. to pursue
“Once the government-level invitation goes out, Infoparks Kerala and the IT Department will do the follow-up,” said Arun Rajeevan, manager (marketing) Infoparks Kerala.
The move comes in the wake of a trend noticed whereby Keralite techies employed outside the State are increasingly preferring to return and work from their home. In the past, despite employing a large number of Keralites, tech companies were reluctant to open a centre in the State.
“The disruption caused by the pandemic seems to have changed that mindset with employees returning home. We are increasingly receiving enquiries about space from companies based outside,” said Mr. Rajeevan.
The rent factor
Also, employees seem more comfortable working from Kerala considering its robust health care system guaranteeing hospital treatment in the event of an emergency. Besides, retaining office space in big metro cities like Bengaluru and Hyderabad for limited purposes in the wake of the prevailing Work From Home arrangement may not be feasible for most IT companies. A city like Kochi could offer substantially reduced rent. The government is also offering perks exempting rent as an added incentive.
Selling points
“Unlike in the past when we showcased our cultural and scenic profile, this time we plan to promote State as an ideal technology destination by highlighting our features like the health care system that came in for praise during the pandemic, better law and order situation, citizen-centric administration, life standards, ever improving education and logistics infrastructure etc.,” said Mr. Rajeevan.