BANGALORE: The success of India's hi-tech and outsourcing industry was built on Bangalore, but the southern city where the boom began has now become a victim of its own success. The rapid growth is putting major pressure on the city's already congested roads and software firms complain that acute power cuts are taking a toll on business.

According to the Software Technology Parks of India, which facilitates hi-tech exports, 284 technology firms have set up base in the "Silicon Valley" of India over the last two years taking the total to 1,322.

"We all believe that the infrastructure problem is serious here. To sustain and grow, we need to go to places where there are opportunities - both manpower and infrastructure," said Azim Premji, the chief of Wipro, India's third largest software exporter.

"We have not seen any infrastructure growth in the last five years in Bangalore and we do not foresee any growth in the next five years. It is difficult to sustain in Bangalore," said Premji, who is India's richest person.

He said Wipro, of which he owns 84 per cent, was looking to expand not in Bangalore but in other Indian cities that have tried to woo IT including Hyderabad in the south, Pune in the west, the capital New Delhi and eastern metropolis of Kolkata.

Karnataka, the state of which Bangalore is capital, is still growing with a 46 per cent jump in software exports in the last fiscal year due to burgeoning outsourcing by Western companies.

At four billion dollars last year, Karnataka's software exports account for one-third of the total across India. Infrastructure was a key factor in bringing IT firms to Bangalore, along with its huge pool of English-speaking engineering graduates and mild hillside climate that offers respite from India's sweaty summers.

Since 1985 when Texas Instruments became the first multinational firm to set up a hi-tech development centre in Bangalore, the trappings of luxury such as restaurants, pubs and upscale boutiques have sprouted up in the city.

But the wealth has come at a price. In a city of six million people, the narrow roads and bylanes are packed by two million registered vehicles. Last year 886 people died in traffic accidents.

Transport department officials said between 600 and 700 vehicles were registered daily. To add to the woes, Karnataka has a power shortage of 1,500 megawatts - which officials said could grow to between 3,000 and 4,000 megawatts in the next five years if the rapid growth continues.

"There is no doubt infrastructure has worsened over the last three years," said Avinash Vashistha, managing director of NeoIT, an outsourcing and software development firm here. "Bangalore is not a desirable place to live anymore."

He said living costs were also being driven up by a shortage of hotels and quality apartments. "As far as outsourcing is concerned we are asking our clients to look at other cities either in Karnataka or outside. I am scared about the situation three years down the road, leave alone 10 years," Vashistha said.

"What they (the government) do right now may well fall short of the ongoing growth Bangalore may see," he said. But the administration may have other priorities. The state government was voted out of power this year amid feelings that both Bangalore and New Delhi had neglected debt-ridden farmers in other parts of Karnataka as it championed IT.

Karnataka's new leader, Chief Minister Dharam Singh, has promised the industry that his government would take up infrastructure issues in Bangalore on an urgent basis. Industrialists said they were not asking the government to ignore the poor - but wanted more concrete planning to manage Bangalore's growth.

"We are not asking for the betterment of Bangalore at the expense of rural areas," said Sridhar Mitta, president outsourcing firm e4e India. But he added: "Today one gets the impression that Bangalore is going to be abandoned in terms of infrastructure and that is not right." -AFP