Japanese companies delay software park venture at Mysore

BANGALORE: The proposed setting up of a software park by apparently 30

Japanese companies at Mysore in Karnataka has been delayed indefinitely. It has

been nearly six months since the proposal was mooted in November last year.

Japanese companies had shown keen interest in setting up their offshore

development facility at Mysore but till date nothing has come up.






The prime reason behind the delay as cited by Bangalore based Global Alliance
Ltd., which is coordinating the Japanese venture at Mysore, is due to the

ongoing Indo-Pak tensions. It is however not clear if any of the companies have

even shed their plans.






The proposed park is supposed to have been set up in a 10 acre land similar in
size and magnitude to ITPL Bangalore and was supposed to have about 30 Japanese

companies. According to an official at the Global Alliance, "Each and every

formality had been completed and the work on the first phase of the park was

about to begin when the Indo-Pak tension engulfed the region.".






He added that the Japanese are still very keen and as soon as the Indo-Pak
tension eases, they will revive their ventures. "Actually they liked the

climate of Mysore very much and were highly impressed by the infrastructure

which the place offered", the company official said. However, the officials

declined to give information about the scale and the nature of Japanese

operations. However, he was full of praise for the state government’s support

for the proposed park.






According to G Prasad, Director, STPI Mysore, the Japanese companies had shown
keen interest on setting up the software park but they have not got back as of

now. "There were around 30 Japanese companies mainly from Osaka in Japan

who were interested in setting up their venture here and were interested in

developing their offshore facilities at Mysore and a delegation of the company

representatives had visited the city sometimes in early December along with

their Indian coordinator," says Prasad. Prasad however was clueless about

the reasons behind the delay of the proposed park, the total investment and

about the companies involved in the venture.