B'lore + Beijing greater than US

NEW DELHI: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabo will go straight to Bangalore on April 9, 2005 and spend the weekend before he arrives in New Delhi in what is being seen as a landmark visit and later what would transpire in the Capital bound to bring bonhomie in the Sino-India relations.

Unlike other state guests, Wen will not visit the Infosys campus in Bangalore.

Instead he will visit Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), one of the world's largest software and services consulting organisations and India's first global billion-dollar IT company.

The Premier will visit another equally prestigious insbreastution, the Indian Insbreastute of Science (IISc) in Bangalore. Ratan Tata happens to be the president of the court of IISc.

"China is the world's largest manufacturing centre in the world. In fact, it is the world's largest factory. India is home to the world's largest software professionals, the world's largest office for information technology.

"I will be very happy if the office and factory can join together," Sun Yuxi, China's Ambbuttador to India told Indiatimes News Network.

TCS was the first Indian software company to open a wholly owned foreign enterprise (WOFE) in China.

They employ over 60 consultants and serve multiple clients using state-of-the-art technology and infrastructure facilities, and houses the Hang Zhou Global Development Centre.

TCS established its China operations in June 2002 as a part of its Asia Pacific expansion programme. It has offices in Shanghai and Beijing. It has a software development centre in Hangzhou called the Hangzhou Software Park.

TCS has about 100 IT professionals and 80 per cent of them are Chinese.

After the TCS visit the Wen Jiabo will visit IISc. Hectic preparations are underway to receive the chief guest.

level, it has now become fashionable to even compare the specifics.

For example, Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province, has been likened to Bangalore, which could be the reason for the Chinese premier's visit to the city.

Both have populations of around 6.4 million and a welter of academic insbreastutions.

Both cities enjoy a fairly good climate. If Bangalore is Garden City, Hangzhou is the City of the Lake with its legendary West Lake, not only a tourist get-away but an ideal destination for technology firms.

If there is an area of concern, it's the difference that lies in the status of infrastructure. While Bangalore's infrastructure has been deteriorating, Hangzhou has been growing.

Half of the 200 kms drive between Hangzhou and Shanghai is covered by an expressway. Bangalore's roads are getting more crowded and pot-holed.

Hangzhou's new airport, that was unveiled in 2000, is 27 kms from the city whereas Bangalore's international airport is still a fair distance off.

The advantage that Bangalore clearly holds over Hangzhou is its supply of quality professionals and technical wizards with fluent English.

The significance of Wen visit to India starting in Bangalore will not only be watched by New Delhi but even Washington. If India and China are indeed to pool in their resources in IT and software, it's going to have a major impact on the US.