Bangalore: As big cities become saturated, the IT firms will have to look at smaller centres with good infrastructure and educational institutions for expansion, Infosys Chief Mentor and chairman N R Narayanamurthy said on Monday (Dec 6, 2004).

"Bigger cities have become congested; smaller cities will gradually get more attention from IT companies if they provide good infrastructure, talent and other opportunities of employment to spouses of IT workers," he said on the sidelines of India Economic Summit.

Murthy said Indian IT industry was on the right track and growing pretty well but it still has a long way to go.

"To enable this growth to continue, companies will have to become more global and we will have to create good infrastructure and ensure better quality manpower in adequate supply," he said.

The Infosys chairman said the issue of better infrastructure came up during the Prime Minister's Trade and Industry Council meeting and the Government was seized of the issue.

Murthy admitted that quality of infrastructure in Bangalore, the hotspot of Indian IT, has been deteriorating for quite some time.

"It is important for the Government and industry to sit together and work out models for solving the problem (of poor infrastructure in Bangalore)," he said, adding that revival of taskforce model for the city would be a good beginning.

He said Indian IT industry faced good competition from China, Philippines, Ireland, Israel and Mexico.