It is advantage time for IT companies in Kerala. With Satyam under a cloud, the software companies in the state are busy trying to win over clients of the tainted IT bellwether. They are also flooded with job applications from Satyam employees.

Kerala is home to around 200 IT companies of varying size that employ close to 25,000 people and have clients across the globe. Last year, software exports from the state crossed Rs.1,000 crore (Rs.10 billion).

Founder president of Group of Technopark companies (GTECH), Sunil Gupta said that since Thursday, the day after the Satyam chief admitted to a Rs.70 billion fraud, he has been getting frantic calls from clients.

"We work with Satyam for five companies in the country and we are their competitors in the US. The biggest fallout of this would be that clients will now insist on very strict insurance clauses, thereby leading to increased insurance premiums which will be borne by companies like us," said Gupta, CEO of the Kerala operations of the New Jersey-headquartered Collabera IT company.

Both Mathews and Gupta said since the Satyam bubble burst, they have been flooded with resumes of Satyam employees.

"Satyam employees are of high quality and certainly we will be hiring those who are suitable depending on our requirements," Mathews said.

Satyam employees agony and prayer’s have been answered it seems, with Kerala willing to employ them in their IT city.