SMB

Profile Of Electronic City Industries Association

CIOL Bureau

25 Apr 2011 00:00 IST

Updated On 25 Apr 2011 06:58 IST

New Update

BANGALORE, INDIA.

Advertisment

Name: Mr G. Rajnarayan

Designation: President

Association: Electronic City Industries Association

Advertisment

The Electronics City

Electronics City, India’s Silicon Valley, is home to some of the best brands in the IT and business world today. With an area over 450 acres, this industrial estate boasts of large facilities for some of the most admired companies in the world including Infosys Technologies Ltd., Wipro; 3M; Siemens; HP; TCS and many more. Employing more than 1,00,000 professionals, Electronics City keeps the wheels of industry and business in motion round the clock. Thanks to visionary leadership from industry captains and a fabulous collaborative model and an ethos based on mutual trust and respect among stakeholders, Electronics city has become synonymous with good governance, modern infrastructure and the holistic development of business and society. It is with immense pride that we live the maxim of being ‘ordinary people’with‘extraordinary focuses, realizing our goals through collaboration, dignity in our interactions and a mutual respect for each other.

Initial fillip to the Electronics City

Advertisment

With the boom of the electronics industry way back in the 80’s and 90’s, the Government of Karnataka envisioned a business estate to cater to the needs of industries engaged primarily in the manufacture and assembly of electronic hardware. The Karnataka State Small Industries Development Corporation (KSSIDC) set up infrastructure to support the needs of small and medium sized entrepreneurial ventures that continued to grow the industry footprint.

Witnessing the rapid growth of Electronics City, the Government of India also selected it to house its prestigious Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) in Bangalore. The STPI which was established under the aegis of the Department of Electronics - GOI, provided State-of-the-art infrastructure facilities for the industry to continue its business uninterrupted. It also made available an Incubation Centre for start-up software entrepreneurs and ready-made industrial flats for fledgling Software Companies, in its facility on the estate.

Also read: India's Leading SMB Associations

Advertisment

The blossoming growth of Electronics City

It was in the early 90s, that a resurrected economy fuelled by the worldwide boom in software development caused a paradigm shift in the growth of Electronics City and it soon grew into a Mecca for Software Developers. In a short span of time, there were almost a 100 operational units in the Electronics City with a built area of 1.10 million square feet including Multinationals, Public Sector undertakings, Small and Medium Enterprises and Training Institutes.

Today, Electronics City provides employment to over 100,000 professionals. The units here post an annual turnover of 3.8 Billion Dollars (Rs 17100 Crores).Electronics City also has the proud privilege of accommodating educational Institutions like IIIT—B, XIME, IFIM, ISBR, Symbiosis, Welingkar and C-DAC in sprawling campuses across the estate. In addition, it boasts of world-class eateries, hospitality services, crÃ¨che’s, a hospital and dispensary together with other common amenities like banks, ATM’s, Travel agents and a post office.

Advertisment

The landscape around Electronics City has also altered dramatically with new housing developments, residential schools and excellent infrastructure ensuring comfortable commute from various parts of the city. The villages around Electronics City have also benefitted tremendously through various programs launched by ELCIA to ensure holistic social development of a larger community.

{#PageBreak#}Working of ELCIA

Managing an industrial estate of this size and repute requires excellent governance, transparency, trust and mutual respect among members and great leadership. We were fortunate to be able to capitalize on some of the best talent in the leadership space right here at Electronics City. Electronics City Industries’ Association (ELCIA) was formed by the industries of Electronics City on 09 January 1992 under the Karnataka Society Registration Act of 1960. The Objective of the Association was to promote mutual benefit among the industries by sharing and to work collaboratively to address common problems confronting the industries. The composition of the committees that drive actions is done with infinite care to ensure the objectives of the Association. Riding comfortably on support of the Government of Karnataka and an active involvement by Captains of the Industry, the Association established a name for itself and became a symbol of efficiency and reliability.
The success of Phase 1 of Electronics City had fuelled the development of Phase 2 just across the Hosur highway.

Advertisment

ELCIA Projects

ELCIA projects, apart from general maintenance and upkeep of the estate, aim at transforming life not just at the estate but across a large part of society. ELCIA works in areas of Infrastructure development and management including roads, information networks, water, power, waste disposal and transport. We also pride ourselves on our participation in strengthening education and protection and conservation of natural resources. ELCIA project beneficiaries include a larger society that we have a vision to transform with our endeavors.

Also read: Interviews of Leading Indian SMB Presidents

Infrastructure Development

We have ventured into new projects and set new benchmarks in many areas including governance, social responsibility, estate management, transport solutions, security and infrastructure development.

The opening of the Elevated Expressway on Hosur Road for traffic on 22nd January 2010 was a dream come true for ELCIA. The idea of widening of Hosur Road (NH-7) between Central Silk Board and Electronics City and constructing an Elevated Road over the Highway was conceived by ELCIA who made an all-out effort to get all necessary projects implemented. Our efforts were rewarded with improved commute times and delighted customer experiences.

The security set up in Electronics City has undergone a huge revolution with the employment of an enhanced security team, installation of security kiosks and Surveillance Cameras. A round-the-clock vigilance and the presence of security personnel have certainly increased the security atmosphere in Electronics City.

29th January, 2010 was a red-letter day for Electronics City. On this day ELCIA inducted CISF personnel for common area security and an anti-terror role. Under the enhanced spectrum of security measures, a bigger security umbrella is available to industries in Electronics City to carry out their business activities peacefully. We are thankful to all those corporations who are committed to this endeavor and who have partnered closely with us to make this a success.

In a very large initiative, ELCIA has strengthened public transport (buses) in Electronics City which has benefitted thousands of commuters from all parts of Bangalore. Bus Day, a successful collaboration between BMTC, industries, Bangalore Traffic Police, Praja, KSPCB and NGOs, worked towards building awareness among commuters on the benefits of public transport solutions, reducing emission levels and improving bus services. In addition, BMTC worked on
Last Mile Connectivity to some important industrial parks in the city witnessing a heavy volume of cars
Interactive Bus Day website with all information regarding bus day for the the convenience of commuters
Bus Route information maps distributed for better comprehensibility
New Routes introduced as per feedback from the selected corridors

Our efforts at Rail options to Electronics city for commuters in North and East Bangalore also paid dividends. In the first week of April 2010 Bangalore Railway Division announced trains from Hosur to Devanahalli with costs as low as Rs 11 for the ride! ELCIA is working on options to ensure last mile connectivity for commuters to E-City on this route. On the cards is a huge project for the Metro Connectivity to Electronics City.

ELCIA took the initiative and constructed a Fire Station in the land allotted to Karnataka Fire Service in Electronics City. The cost of construction was borne by ELCIA and member industries in Electronics City. Together with this, ELCIA also enabled the setting up of Law & Order and Traffic Police stations within the E-City.

{#PageBreak#}Working with the Society

ELCIA adopted the Akshaya Patra program and now proudly supports a free mid-day meal for over 5500 children in the Government schools around Electronics City. In addition, ELCIA supplies free drinking water to two villages surrounding the estate.

ELCIA’s efforts in the space of education have seen the creation of new education infrastructure in neighboring villages including the construction of school buildings, toilets and provision of good furniture for the children. Education has also been supported with visionary programs like the note-book drive to equip children in these schools with stationery free of cost. Of course, this is not all. Employees are encouraged to spend their most valuable possession, viz., time with children to support and nurture their aspirations in the space of education.

Protecting and increasing ‘green cover’ is a passion with ELCIA. With over 1000 saplings planted every year over the last ten years, ELCIA takes pains to make sure that we are known not just for technology but our efforts in protecting the environment.
Our efforts in reducing our carbon footprint have met with resounding success. The strong public transport model provides tremendous impetus to employees working here to do their part in reducing emissions.

Today we are poised to work in partnership with the government to tackle issues of policy and implementation of waste management practices across the industry. We believe this effort will provide the necessary fillip for successful institutionalization.