With 30 lakh sq ft under development, IT sector ready to boom in Coimbatore

Coimbatore's IT sector is set to grow with over 30 lakh sq.ft of IT space under construction or planned for development, attracting leading companies and emphasizing the need for infrastructure development.

The Information Technology (IT) sector is finally all set to take a big leap in Coimbatore, with over 30 lakh sq.ft of IT space either under construction or planned for development.

Sources in the realty sector and in the Tamil Nadu government said almost 10 projects in the city are offering IT space, and the leading companies in the IT sector are negotiating or have confirmed that they will occupy space in these projects.

“The main attraction in Coimbatore for these companies is being close to the talent pool,” a government official said.

While IT companies are looking at regular operations, the government is pushing for the establishment of data centres, global capability centres, and banking and financial service centres. “The companies will take at least a couple of years to commission operations here. Coimbatore has to get into the next generation technology,” the official added.

Coimbatore’s IT sector is in on the verge of a a take off, just as Bengaluru’s was, almost three decades ago. There are several factors that need to be focused on for Coimbatore to gain from the potential available now, said Jude Alex, chief executive officer at Synergy Group, a realty company. Infrastructure development should gain momentum and realty prices should be at “understandable levels”, he added.

While a boom of the IT sector will gradually lead to a demand for supporting services, such as schools, retail outlets, catering, and logistics, within a 100 km radius, rentals and land prices are a concern, he said.

Sources say the rental rates in Coimbatore in some pockets are higher than those of Whitefield, in Bengaluru, which will not augur well for the city in the long run. There are mall developers who want space as they see the potential in these localities, but, the land prices are not remunerative, they say.