Kovai suburbs transform into it hubs: The rise of Vilankurichi and Saravanampatti

Coimbatore's suburbs, Saravanampatti and Vilankurichi, have transformed into bustling IT hubs over the past two decades, attracting major companies and generating thousands of jobs. This growth has spurred real estate demand and urban development, but historians emphasize the need for balanced growth across the city.

CM MK Stalin Ten days ago, chief minister M K Stalin inaugurated a swanky IT park at Vilankurichi, where companies clamoured for space even before the opening. Buoyed by the demand, Stalin announced that one more IT park, the biggest in the city, offering three million square feet of space, would be built in the same place, setting the tone for Vilankurichi’s evolution as a tech haven. Vilankurichi has clearly come a long way from the nondescript suburb it was two decades ago.

The same is the case with Saravanampatti, another sleepy suburb which evolved into a cyber hub in the past 20 years. “Two decades ago, there was just one bus that plied here every hour,” says S J Ponnuraj, a retired sub-inspector of police from Saravanampatti. “Now, this IT corridor is congested.

” More than 50 IT companies, including majors CTS, TCS, Wipro, KGISL, and Bosch, have set up shop in Saravanampatti. Parks such as Chil SEZ, KGiESL, KCT Tech Park, and India Land Tech Park provide office space. In Vilankurichi, Elcot’s SEZ spurred the IT boom, attracting many small and medium firms.

“There are 48,000 direct IT jobs offered in Saravanampatti alone,” says R Maheshwaran, vice-president, finance and infrastructure at KGISL Infrastructures. “Each IT job creates three indirect jobs, benefiting more than one lakh people, including cab drivers, food vendors, and housekeeping staff. The two IT corridors have helped the whole city grow.

” With rising IT employees, the areas changed, adding eateries, malls, and hotels, while demand for housing in the area skyrocketed. Realtor David George says there is a massive rise in land demand in Saravanampatti and Vilankurichi. “Two decades ago, much of the land in Saravanampatti was agrarian while in Vilankurichi there were barren stretches.

A cent cost `2 lakh; now, it’s `16 lakh in interior streets and `28 lakh for commercial use land.” Coimbatore historian C R Elangovan says Saravanampatti and Vilankurichi do not have much historical significance. “The focus should turn towards developing other parts of the city for overall growth, particularly in the eastern periphery of Neelambur.

Urbanisation of other parts of the district is possible only when industries or IT sectors choose to extend to more areas rather than clustering in a specific area,” he says..