Rising Operating Costs in Tier I Cities Encouraging IT Brands to Move to Tier II Cities for Better Prospects
Aequs, India’s largest aerospace precision engineering & manufacturing company, today announced that it has broad banded 
its SEZ in Belgaum for companies in the Information Technology, Biotechnology and ITeS industries to set up workspaces within the Aequs SEZ with the view of providing ease of business to companies in the sector.
IT/BT/ITeS companies are mostly located in Tier I cities but their services have never been restricted by location. While Tier I cities have been a great prospect, they have reached a saturation point and the disadvantages associated with a Tier I city (infrastructure, municipal issues, generic talent pool, operating expenses, etc.) outweigh the initial advantages.
Belgaum is one of India’s fastest growing cities, located on the golden quadrilateral NH4 (equidistant from Bangalore-Hyderabad-Mumbai). It has a large pool of talent, with students from Engineering, Medical, Management, Law, Science and Commerce. With the rapid geographical and telecommunication connectivity, tier II smart cities in India offer a better prospect for the growing IT/BT/ITeS companies.
The Aequs Special Economic Zone is India’s first precision engineering and manufacturing Special Economic Zone located in the Hattargi village of Belgaum. Spread over 262 acres and with a built-up area more than 5 lakh Sq. ft., .the SEZ offers world class infrastructure to IT companies to set-up operations.
Speaking at Bengaluru IT BIZ, Rajeev Kaul, Group CFO & MD, Aequs, said, “Aequs SEZ has been one of the pioneers in this venture and continues to drive the thought of establishing an inclusive workspace across industries. Owing to the lower cost of living in Tier II/III cities as compared to Tier I cities enables a better quality of life of the employees. Coupled with overpopulation, scarcity of quality accommodation, travel time, which is twice as long as tier II cities and other constraints, are affecting work-life balance of employees. Through this SEZ, we not only want to provide physical infrastructure, but also extend our years of experience to ensure seamless business operations at the Special Economic Zone. Moreover, we want to create opportunities for emerging local entrepreneurs to set up facilities, take advantage of the world class infrastructure available at their doorstep with the benefit of lower operating costs.”
Priyank M. Kharge, Minister of IT, BT, Science & Technology, and Tourism, Karnataka said, “Aequs is Karnataka’s first third party IT SEZ outside Bangalore with equal infrastructure and opportunities. It will lead tier II/III cities in the state to generate employment and bring development. I congratulate Aequs on this feat and encourage companies to take advantage of the facilities at Aequs SEZ in Belgaum.”
The Aequs SEZ will provide uninterrupted power supply sourced from multiple grids, centralized Information, Communication & Technology (ICT) support system for all SEZ units, internationally recognized road standards, steady supply of water, and proper sewage system. Besides this, the Aequs team will also be available at the location to address every requirement of the company, be it employee augmentation or technical support.
