MNCs stepping out: Will IT be Bangalore.Out?

BANGALORE: It has happened again and this time they are not relenting.
Even before the showpiece event of the city's IT industry, Bangalore IT.com, christened Bangalore.In, takes off, leading MNCs are planning to boycott it.
But, unlike last year, when a boycott was called but put off, IT firms are in no mood for a compromise.
The Bangalore Forum for IT (BFIT), comprising about 20 companies like include HP Global, Texas Instruments, SAP, Siemens, Philips Software, Sun Microsystems, Synopsis, Sasken and vMoksha, is in no mood for negotiations.
Says Bobby Mitra, MD, Texas Instruments India: "Nothing has happened ��� roads are still in a pathetic condition. Last year the government promised improvement but you can see it for yourself."
But Karnataka IT secretary Shankaralinge Gowda is not worried. "If they want to boycott there is nothing we can do. There are about 1,500 IT firms here and the forum has just a handful of them," he says.
But Subramanyam Vempati, VP and GM, HP India, says, "It is all about those who commute on these roads. It is just because we have a voice (as an IT body) that we are trying to do something."
Shankaralinge Gowda admits roads are in a poor condition. "This can���t be solved in one day."He says the Peripheral Road project is on and work on Bannerghatta Road has been taken up.