Mahindra & Mahindra to develop US$ 100m IT park
Mega investment to yield 60,000 jobs:
India's leading heavy tractor manufacturer and Indian Infrastructure
development giant Mahindra & Mahindra will set up an IT Park at
Katunayake.
The company hopes to invest US$ 100 million for this project. When
completed it would generate 60,000 new jobs.
The IT Park in Katunayake will be located on a 53-acre land that was
identified as the site for a future IT park by the BOI. The land will
yield 2.6- 3 million sq. feet of space that can be used for the
different types of IT related activities.
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Mou: Mahindra & Mahindra Group singed an Mou with the BoI to
build an IT park in Katunayake. The Agreement was signed by
Minister of Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion,
Dr Sarath Amunugama, , and Vice Chairman of Mahindra &
Mahindra. Arun Nanda. Also present at the event and
exchanging documents were the Indian State Minister of
Commerce, Jairam Ramesh, who is on an official visit to Sri
Lanka, and Minister of Investment Promotion Navin
Dissanayake, and senior officials of the Indian High
Commission and the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka. |
The site would be built and managed by Mahindra & Mahindra and the
company will market the site, making space available to interested
investors in the IT, BPO and IT enabled services sectors.
The rationale behind this new agreement is to use the expertise of
Mahindra & Mahindra to build the site in association with the Board of
Investment. Mahindra & Mahindra would also develop a 900 acres special
economic zone in Trincomalee.
Under this future agreement that will be signed in 30 days M&M and
the Government of Sri Lanka will provide the basic infrastructure for
the zone, while private entrepreneurs can invest there. This project
will fast track development in the Eastern Province. If the East can be
developed, this could easily add another 2% to Sri Lanka's current
economic growth rate, Minister Amunugama.
Vice Chairman of Mahindra & Mahindra Arun Nanda said the main
strength of his company was its ability to bring to the new IT zone top
level IT companies from India and other countries. He added, "The
project will create 25,000 new software jobs in Sri Lanka, which is a
tenfold increase of Sri Lanka's current pool of IT workers".
In addition, there are another 5,000 other employment opportunities
from support services. But Nanda is confident that the IT Zone in
Katunayake will eventually create a staggering 60,000-70,000 indirect
job opportunities, as the site will become a magnet for a wide range of
activities.
State Minister of Commerce India Jairam Ramesh said the two projects
undertaken by Mahindra & Mahindra show the versatility of the expertise
of this leading Indian company" the IT Park is for white collar workers;
the Trincomalee SEZ is for blue collar employees".
Enterprise Development Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama said Sri Lanka
has a long relationship with M and M.
"The IT industry is a US$ 1 billion industry for Sri Lanka. M & M
will undertake the total integrated development of the IT Park. It will
be open for companies to invest," he said. |
