Kochi, Mar 20 (PTI) Amid the havoc created by the pandemic for the past two years, the Infopark here reported an increase in software exports by an impressive 21 per cent in financial year 2020-21 and created over 2,000 job opportunities. In the last financial year, a total of 88 new companies started operations in the IT park with an allotment of 1,57,602 square feet space, Kerala State IT Parks CEO John M Thomas said, adding that the strength of the workforce increased by eight per cent. "Software export revenue of Infopark, Kochi and associated satellite parks last financial year stood at Rs 6,310 crore as against Rs 5,200 crore in the year before, a 21 per cent increase. Interestingly, the export revenue had a steady increase even while there was a minor dip in the total number of companies due to the exit of small scale companies with remote working," Infopark said in a statement. Currently, allotment of 50,000 sq ft space to 13 more new companies are under process and this is expected to create over 400 new job opportunities in the immediate future, Infopark said. The park houses 55,000 IT professionals in 412 companies with a total built-up space of 9.2 million sq ft which is rapidly expanding. Thomas said Infopark has continued to attract new companies and investment to the state, thereby generating net new employment opportunities during the pandemic. "The support from the government has helped in both bolstering the IT infrastructure at Infopark and attracting investments from global and Indian IT majors," he said. Catering to the increasing demand for IT built-up space, the park has come forward with expansion plans. The Geo Group has recently announced its plan to invest Rs 160 crore on a new project, the IBS Kochi campus is nearing completion with a built-up space of 6.5 million sq ft and completion of Media Systems India project in Phase-II is projected to generate innumerable fresh opportunities. Infopark, an IT park, established in 2004 by the Kerala government plans to develop 1.65 acres of denotified land in Phase-I. PTI RRT RRT HDA HDA