Tech firms shrug off bandit blues

BANGALORE: Software firms in India's leading technology center, Bangalore,

said on Thursday their businesses faced no dent from disturbances the city faced

this week after the abduction of movie star Rajkumar by the jungle bandit,

Veerappan.

Bangalore, which is home to more than 800 software service firms, was hit by

scattered violence and rioting on Monday and Tuesday following the kidnapping of

Rajkumar, a veteran of 210 films and a cult figure in southern India.

"The situation is not as bad as it is being made out," said K

Dinesh, a director at software bluechip Infosys Technologies Ltd., adding that

the lost time would be made up within August.

Leading industry officials literally laughed off speculation of revenue

losses in the booming industry, which they said does not quantify revenues for a

day or two as projects have monthly time-cycles.

The 72-year-old Rajkumar was seized in his remote farmhouse at gunpoint by

the notorious bandit Veerappan, who is charged with nearly 120 killings, just

inside neighboring Tamil Nadu.

Shops and offices in Bangalore were shut down and public transport services

suspended for two days as angry fans protested against the abduction of their

celluloid hero.

Rajkumar continues to remain a hostage and state authorities are awaiting the

brigand's demands.

Weekend work to plug holes

More than 60,000 software engineers are employed by Bangalore-based firms,

which contributed more than a quarter of India's total software exports of $4

billion in 1999-2000 (April-March).

Dinesh said that the Bangalore-headquartered Infosys, which employs about

3,000 people in the city, lost a day-and-a-half during the disturbances on

Monday and Tuesday.

"We will obviously make up for it by working on Saturdays or other

days," he said.

Software firms said they had systems in place that smoothly altered the work

schedules of their engineers to ensure that projects were completed on time.

"For those customers with immediate project deadlines, we will look at

applying additional resources to ensure on-time and high quality output,"

said Vivek Paul, vice-chairman of leading tech firm Wipro Ltd.

Rajiv Mody, chief executive of Silicon Automation Systems Ltd., said the

disturbances were something the tech industry could live with.

"If at all there is any damage it may be to the image of the city as the

whole world is watching us," Mody said.

(C) Reuters Limited 2000.