“BPOs are doing extremely well in Gujarat since they are largely focussed on the telecom sector, which is doing very well at present,” said Nirav Shah, president, Gujarat Electronics and Software Industries Association (GESIA).

BPOs here are expected to hire around 1,500 to 2,000 people during this financial year, over and above the recruitment of over 1,000 individuals in the last few months, Shah said.

“Established IT giants are now looking for expansion in Gujarat. Oil and Petroleum sector companies from the Middle East are planning to open their back office processing units by September this year in the upcoming SEZs here,” a top IT official said.

There are over a dozen IT/ITES Special Economic Zones (SEZ) sanctioned in Gujarat, of which K Raheja Corp SEZ at Koba near Gandhinagar is expected to begin operations from the first quarter of 2010, to be followed by the DLF SEZ, industry sources said.

“IT companies have already started coming to us, and soon they shall shortlist the floor space,” said Kotak, region head, K Raheja Corp.

He added: “We are expected to begin operations from the first quarter of 2010. Over six to seven companies who visited us recently, including a few from the Middle East, have already applied for approval to IT/ITES SEZ Development Commissioner and are expected to open BPO's here.”

Ajay Sharma, Director Software Technology Parks of India, said: “Software exports of IT/IT enabled services (ITES) from units registered under STPI scheme in Gujarat last fiscal stood at Rs 1,063 crores, showing a jump of 48.05 per cent as compared to exports in 2007-08.” Sub-sector of IT/ITES like BPOs, KPOs and embedded software have contributed to the growth in exports from the state, he added.

“As per estimates, the growth trend in IT exports this fiscal shall remain the same as in the past. We expect the exports of IT enabled services from the state to cross the Rs 1,200 crore mark this fiscal,” Sharma said.

But, last fiscal, 38 units were registered under the STPI scheme as compared to registration of 45 units in 2007-08 in the state.