An Analysis of Chennai

Zinnov Research has just released a 14-page “snapshot” report on Chennai (formerly, Madras), which has seen remarkable growth in the India IT space and hosts companies such as TCS, Wipro, Infosys, Satyam, Cognizant, Microsoft, Google and Verizon. The document contains plenty of practical information, such as:

The major IT region of Chennai is the OMR (Old Mahabalipuram road) highway and Gundy. These locations are attracting major IT and ITES companies. This region is being promoted as the IT hub of Chennai city.

There are currently around 20 IT parks all over Chennai. The rental rates in these IT parks range between $1 and $1.1 per sq. ft.

(The parks have excellent telecomm and security arrangements, which makes them attractive to high tech companies, in particular.)

Residential rentals in “good” areas, such as Anna Nagar, Adyar, Besant Nagar or T Nagar range from between $230 and $350 per month, with 6 to 10 months rent payable in advance. (If you’re looking to buy, get to Poes Garden or Boat Club, where two-bedroom flats cost “well above $200,000,” but you’ll have “political leaders and film stars” as neighbors.)

The report shares the outlook on power and water; education; growth of the IT and IT-enabled services sector; the talent pool and where it’s working (Isoft has 2,000 people, whereas Flextronics has 500); the attrition rate (it’s higher in BPO than in IT -- around 30-35%); salaries (for somebody with five to eight years of experience, you’ll pay on average $1,200 to $2,300 per month); and living standards.

If you’re considering a Tier 1-1 city (the ones just behind Tier 1 cities in Gartner lingo) for some of your work in India, definitely download this briefing to get the lowdown.