BANGALORE: With Karnataka continuing to contribute a major share to the country's IT exports, IT majors Infosys and Wipro bagged the state's top IT export awards for 2006-07. The awards were presented at an event, organised by Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) and Department of IT, BT and S&T, Government of Karnataka, on Wednesday.
The awards, distributed under 22 categories, had two new categories for Best Employer for Physically Challenged and Employment Program towards Upliftment of Social/Economically Weaker Section.
While IT exports from India, including software and ITES, stood at $31.4 billion during 2006-07, Karnataka contributed $12.4 billion, which is almost about 40 percent of the total IT exports.
Bangalore contributes 8 percent
Software exports from Bangalore alone contributed to 8 percent of the total exports from India, covering all sectors. Of the total IT exports from the state, Rs 14,000 crore was contributed from tier II cities like Mysore, Mangalore, Manipal and Hubli.
J. Parthasarathy, director, STPI said that Karnataka projected a growth of 30 percent in the IT exports last year. The state saw the opening of 164 new companies last year with three of them each week. Of the existing companies in the state, 350 have expanded to tier II cities like Mangalore, Mysore and Hubli, he added.
As regards manpower growth in the IT sector, more than 4,50,000 people have been employed, Parthasarathy said.
Speaking on the occasion, Karnataka Higher Education Minister, D.H. Shankara Murthy urged the Centre to extend the tax holiday for STPI units under Sections 10A and 10B of the Income-Tax Act for a further period of 10 years.
"It is our vision to see that even the tier II cities in the state become hot destinations of IT. The state government will shortly set up earth stations and incubation centers in other cities of Karnataka, which have the potential to accelerate the growth of IT sector," the minister said.
Jayendra Singh, IT Secretary, Government of India, S.N. Zindal, director general, STPI, Karnataka IT & BT Secretary M.N. Vidyashankar, J. Parthasarathy and Shankara Murthy gave away the awards under various categories.
IT Exports Awards under various categories
Top major Indian IT companies
Infosys Technologies and Wipro Ltd.
Certificate of Excellence for next two leading major Indian companies
TCS Ltd and i-Flex Solutions
Top two foreign equity companies
IBM India and Accenture Services
Certificate of Excellence for next two leading foreign equity companies
Hewlett-Packard Globalsoft and Oracle India
Top two ITeS/BPO segment - Indian companies
Infosys BPO and FirstSource Solutions
Certificate of Excellence for next two leading ITeS/BPO segment Indian companies
Transworks Information Services - HTMT Global Solutions
Top two ITeS/BPO segment - FE companies
Dell Computer India and Fidelity Business Services
Certificate of Excellence for next two leading ITeS/BPO segment - FE companies
Global e-Business Operations and Goldman Sachs Services
Top two semiconductor/IC design companies
Texas Instruments and Intel Technology
Certificate of Excellence for next two leading semiconductor/IC design companies
Philips Electronics India and Applied Materials India
Top two exporters from Sub-center Mysore
Infosys Technologies and Larsen & Toubro - EmSys
Certificate of Excellence for next two leading exporters from Sub-center Mysore
Larsen & Toubro Infotech and Excelsoft Technologies
Top two exporters from Sub-center Mangalore/Manipal
Infosys Technologies and Msource (I) Pvt Ltd
Certificate of Excellence for next two leading exporters from Sub-center Mangalore/Manipal
Robosoft Technologies and Invenger Technologies
Top two exporters from Sub-center Hubli
N.S. Infotech and Katwa Infotech
Certificate of Excellence for next two leading exporters from Sub-center Hubli
Sankalp Semiconductor and Gokul Scribe
Top two EHTP companies
American Power Conversion and GE Medical Systems
Certificate of Excellence for next two leading EHTP companies
Wipro GE Healthcare and Tyco Electronics Corp.
Top two fastest grown SMEs
Acropetal Technologies and Crossdomain Solutions
Certificate of Excellence for next two leading fastest grown SMEs
Iteamic and SoftJin Technologies
Highest employed by IT company
Wipro Ltd
Highest employed by ITeS/BPO company
Infosys BPO Ltd
Best employer for physically challenged
iCAD Engineering
Employment program towards upliftment of social/economic weaker section
IIIT Bangalore
CIOL Bureau