According to M S Jagan, who will head the Chennai operations, JTC is seriously exploring business opportunities in IT centric cities like Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune which are expanding rapidly. JTC already has major business interest in the Rs 300-crore ITPL project in Bangalore where it has built an IT dedicated park with 1.2 million sq.feet of space in Whitefield. This is a joint venture with Tatas holding 47 per cent stake and a consortium of Singapore-based government-linked companies including JTC holding 47 per cent equity stake. Bangalore is now reckoned as the design and consultancy centre of JTC and this is headed by Rao Manukutla.

JTC has drawn up plans to expand its range of operations specifically to cover infrastructure projects including master planning and design of IT parks and custom-built industrial parks.

It has already done the master-planning for Chennai's prestigious Mahindra Industrial Park. It is also reportedly in the race for bagging the O & M contract for the Rs 340 crore IT-related Tidel Park project which is slated to be officially opened by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on July 4.

Apart from looking to playing a big role in the IT corridor and infrastructure development projects of Karnataka, AP and Tamil Nadu governments, JTC is, Jagan says, planning a modular expansion of the ITPL project in Bangalore. With top companies like Wipro and GE as well as several other companies located in ITPL wanting to expand and seeking additional space, JTC is finalising plans to build initially additional space of about 60,000-80,000 sq.ft and expand this further as required by the companies.

According to Jagan, the company is about to conclude a contract with the Karnataka government to provide consultancy services on master planning and infrastructure planning-cum-design for the 20 km long IT corridor which will cut through Bangalore and is linked to the outer ring road. The confidence to become a leading player in the IT master-planning and infrastructure segments come, Jagan says, from the astounding success of the ITPL project which in two years could sell the entire space of 1.2 million sq.ft to some 85 top software and IT companies. So JTC intends to make its presence felt in AP, Tamil Nadu, Haryana,Karnataka and Maharashtra in the years ahead and make substantial investments in the infrastructure development projects of these states.