IT companies based in Bangalore have finally begun to yield to the government's request to spread themselves to Tier II cities in Karnataka.

At the concluding media interaction in Bangalore IT.Com 2004, Wipro announced its plans to acquire a 25-acre land in Mangalore and 100 acre in Mysore for developing their facilities.

Without revealing further details on their expansion plans in these two cities, C B Raghunandan, general manager-logistics and project execution, Wipro Technologies, said, "We plan to acquire about 25 acre in Mangalore and 100 acre in Mysore. We are working out the cost factor in terms of expanding in these locations. It is also too early to talk about the kind of work that Wipro would want to do in these locations."

"We were requesting them to expand and they have responded positively," M K Shankaralinge Gowda, IT and Biotechnology secretary, government of Karnataka, said.

Representatives from First Indian Corporation and MphasiS BFL also reiterated their commitment to open their centres in Mangalore and Mysore.

BFL announced that it would open a facility in Mangalore, which would employ about 3,000 people. This facility would open in first quarter of next fiscal. First Indian Corporation has applied for a 10-acre plot in Mangalore.

FIC already has a software development facility in Bangalore where it employs 550 people. It also has another facility in Hyderabad, which is 650-strong.

ANZ Trade Centre, which facilitated the participation of the biggest delegation from Australia, announced that all 27 Australian companies, anticipate a total trade and investments worth $180 million over the next 3-5 years purely as a result of new deals and tie-ups with their Indian counterparts.

"This amount is the sum total of only the expected business. While the actual value is much higher, we have only considered the expected business. Other key initiatives include TVS Interconnect tie-up with Australian-based Senko to develop and deliver fibre to home product in India. While Business Intelligence Technologies plans to set up offices in India, ANZ Trade Centre also tied up with e-Centric Innovations of Australia to establish a dedicated and exclusive channel to take Indian IT capabilities to the Asia-Pacific markets," Umesh K Baveja, president of ANZ Trade Centre, said.