Tamil Nadu’s first Mini-TIDEL park to open doors at Villupuram today

Tamil Nadu's first Mini-TIDEL park in Villupuram inaugurated by Chief Minister M.K.Stalin, promoting IT growth and development in the region.

Chief Minister M.K.Stalin will be inaugurating Tamil Nadu’s first Mini-TIDEL park in Villupuram on Saturday (February 17). This project is situated on a built-up area of 63,000 sq ft spread across a five acre land parcel at Thiruchitrambalam village, Vanur Taluk, and entails investments to the tune of Rs.31 crore.

“The inauguration of the first Mini-TIDEL Park in Villupuram marks a significant milestone in realising our Chief Minister’s vision of distributed growth across Tamil Nadu,” said Industries Minister T R B Rajaa. “These parks not only boost the IT ecosystem but also contribute to the socio-economic development of the region. With Tamil Nadu being the most urbanised state and having internet connectivity across the state, our youth in different regions can now be a part of the global IT landscape without having to move away from their hometowns,” he said.

“Many firms have evinced interest for space here. And one firm will be given the allotment letter by the Chief Minister,” said a senior government official without divulging further details.

The Tamil Nadu budget 2023-2024 had a mention about this project. “In the year 2000, Muthamizharignar Kalaignar ushered the IT revolution in the state by setting up the first TIDEL Park. To promote growth of IT and ITeS sectors in Tier II cities of the state, the government is setting up 7 Neo-TIDEL parks across the State,” the state budget document mentioned.

“We are dedicated to providing state-of-the-art infrastructure to foster innovation and entrepreneurship in the IT/ITES sector,” said V Jaya Chandra Bhanu, Managing Director of TIDEL. It is learnt Mini-TIDEL parks are being established in Tier II and Tier III towns, with eight other such parks already in development in Thanjavur, Salem, Thoothukudi, Vellore, Karaikudi, Namakkal, Tiruppur and Ooty. Each of these parks will be sprad across 50,000 sq ft to 1 lakh sq ft based on market demand.

TIDEL parks have been instrumental in propelling Tamil Nadu’s IT sector. “Establishment of TIDEL Park was a landmark move that set the tone for Grade A, multi-tenanted commercial campuses for use by the IT industry in Tamil Nadu,” said Ramkumar Ramamoorthy, former chairman and MD, Cognizant India. Cognizant was not only one of the largest occupants of TIDEL Park for many years but also went on to become the largest IT services employer in the state for more than a decade, he added.

Today, the state is home to some of the most prominent brands in the IT sector like Cognizant, Infosys, HCL, Tata Consultancy Services among others and all these firms continue to expand their operations in the state. This growth has also led to real estate players and other organizations set up private IT parks across the state. Data shows that the IT & ITeS sector has generated employment for over 1.1 million people. Not just that IT firms from across the country queue up at educational institutions in Tamil Nadu to pick up talent.