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Laced with hiccups, hurdles, political tamasha and an inclement weather, the
four-day Bangalore IT.in held at the Palace Grounds attracted about 270
companies, including 160 international firms from 18 countries to showcase their
technologies and products. Nearly 16 State Governments from across the country
participated in the event to promote their respective states as major
destinations for attracting investments in the IT sector.
HD Deve Gowda urged Chief Minister Dharam Singh to allot land to IT
industries on a condition that they give jobs to those displaced. Stressing that
he was not 'anti-IT', Gowda attacked a section of the IT industry for
starting a 'whispering campaign' within three months of the coalition
government coming to power, that IT was leaving Bangalore because of
infrastructural woes.
Meanwhile Chief Minister Dharam Singh, referring to discordant notes about
inadequate infrastructure facilities, said the government was striving to set
them right. He indicated over Rs 500 crore had been spent on improving the roads
in the city during the last 17 months.
The government would also seek financial aid from the Centre to take up
gradation of 38 roads, involving 492 km, at a cost of Rs 516 crore, he added,
saying that that government had also cleared construction of an eight-lane 109
km peripheral ring road at a cost of Rs 1,190 crore.
Against the backdrop of a spat between the politicians and the IT czars, the
Bangalore Palace grounds, the main venue of the IT jamboree was sans the usual
crowds except for event organizers, exhibitors, delegations, the media, and a
few visitors. The rain that lashed the city during the week seemed to have acted
on the minds of the prospective participants too.
Trade visitors, exhibitors, and general curiosity-driven public played it
safe and stayed back home instead of venturing out to get caught in the downpour
should the clouds decide to burst again. Even the seminars at Bangalore's posh
hotels seemed to have had poor attendance.
Benefiting from dissert
The growing discontent between the industry and the government in Karnataka
however, came as a blessing in disguise for other states to promote themselves
as future IT destinations. The 'IT States Pavilion' at the Bangalore
IT.in-2005 exhibition, saw a host of IT-savvy states promise the industry and
their investors 'the sky' as if it were, through various policies and
schemes.
Andhra Pradesh touted as 'The next preferred IT destination', had its IT
representatives speaking about the state's new ICT policy- 2005-10, which has
woven business infrastructure, residential, commercial infrastructure and city
infrastructure for ICT business. Additionally, the government is attempting to
portray itself as pool of manpower by offering its students (in IT-enabled
services) a Graduate Employability Test (GET) to train them in accent
neutralization using content from Linguaphone, UK.
At one of the seminars, Andhra Pradesh IT Secretary, K Ratna Prabha said they
were promoting Warangal, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Tirupati to spread the
growth of IT and ITES. Claiming that IT majors have already identified
Vishakapatnam as their Tier-II location, Prabha said, ICT companies been
allotted 59 acres of land with an investment of
Rs 200 crore. IT/ITES exports from Vishakapatnam, she said, are expected to
touch Rs 700 crore by 2009.
Not to be left behind, Maharashtra calling itself the 'e-gateway of India',
promised a host of sops for IT companies. They included 100% stamp duty
exemption in public IT parks, exemption from paying electricity duty and lower
property
taxes. After clocking high GDP growth rate, Gujarat is trying to replicate its
success across the IT industry. The Gujarat State Wide Area Network (GSWAN) has
been declared the world's second largest and South Asia's largest IP-based
WAN. The network digitally links the state's 25 districts, 225 blocks and
1,300 government offices through 12,000 nodes.
Rajasthan on the other hand, has constituted a high-level IT Task Force to
boost the state's economy and improve the process of governance. To be chaired
by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, the task force has Karnataka's Infosys
Chairman, NR Narayana Murthy as a member.
| Has
BangaloreIT.in Become A White Elephant? |
| "Bangalore
has grown enough." These words of chief guest HD Deve Gowda at
the inaugural ceremony of BangaloreIT.in 2005, must have sounded
incongruous to international delegates interested in building ties
with the Garden city's IT companies.
The eighth edition of this mega IT
event turned into a washout this year and more importantly, was
reduced to a platform to score political points. This begs the
question: Has BangaloreIT.in become a white elephant? Or put it
another way, does Bangalore need IT.in to reinforce its brand and
woo investments to the city's booming IT sector?
Eight years ago, the event made
good business sense as it helped city-based companies get exposure
and more importantly, gave them a platform for business interaction.
Consider the IT growth figures now. IT exports grew 52% last year
touching $6.3 billion, accounting for one-third of the country's
total IT exports.
Back in 1998, there were 680 IT
companies and now the number has shot up to 1,584. Of these, 622 are
MNCs, which contribute to around 25% to the state's GDP. Around
206 new IT companies came up in the state last year. The IT influx
continues-since April 2005, 97 new IT companies set up shop in
Karnataka.
That Bangalore is a brand is an
accepted fact today. What more proof than that the verb 'Bangalored',
which refers to the transfer of IT jobs from the US and UK to India.
But if this year's pre-BangaloreIT.in
developments are anything to go by, they have done nothing, but dull
the brand. Last month, around 135 companies threatened to boycott
the event at the Dharam Singh government's perceived lack of
interest in tackling infrastructure problems. The Karnataka
Government and authorities stepped in and promised all short-term
and long-term measures to manage infrastructure.
Then came the Infosys Chief Mentor,
NR Narayana Murthy versus Janata Dal (Secular) National President,
Deve Gowda spat, resulting in the former resigning as chairman of
the Bangalore International Airport Limited project.
If these weren't enough, the rain
gods stepped in to drown the city in a record deluge, which exposed
the chinks, and gaping holes in Bangalore's infrastructure.
BangaloreIT.in invoked a muted response this year. The trade show
did not attract crowds, and failed to meet expectations. The various
conferences saw patchy and sparse attendance, and lacked the punch
and substance of sessions of previous years.
The sole consolation this year was
the record number of international trade delegations-around 20.
For these visitors with business on their minds, how relevant is
talk of political intrigue and posturing?
Another observation this year is
that states like Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and others did
their bit to woo potential investors from Karnataka to their states
citing Karnataka's poor infrastructure as a minus. So, why does
Karnataka have to spend money from its ex-chequer to fund an event
where competing states are trying to divert precious FDI away from
Karnataka?
Though it would be impossible to
get top executives of IT companies on record to say that IT.in has
lost its significance, it is obvious that the big names in the IT
business participate in the event merely to fulfill their duty as
citizens of Bangalore.
Many participants who spoke to
CyberMedia News said that they prefer a pure, focused B2B trade
platform instead of a full-fledged jamboree that is also open to the
general and not-so-serious visitors. Some of the parallel events
held during IT.in such as the Students Internet World and Rural IT
quiz are good crowd-pullers. However, the moot question is whether
they need the BangaloreIT.in umbrella to continue.
Gowda was right in a way. Bangalore
has hogged a lot of attention all this while. It is time for a
pan-Indian show or alternatively a show to highlight other IT
destinations in Karnataka like Hubli-Dharwad, Mysore and Mangalore,
which could benefit from such an exposure. Bangalore and Karnataka's
IT dream run can flourish without IT.in, since most investors and
companies interested in the state don't come here only during
BangaloreIT.in.
This stated, it remains to be seen
whether the authorities and the industry would wake up to the
reality that the event has outlasted its purpose-that of building
the Bangalore brand-and gently kill it without much ado.
PRIYA PADMANABHAN
(CyberMedia News) |
|
Joining the race, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh have come out with a host of
concessions for software development units. Himachal will have no general sales
tax on IT products up to March 31, 2007. There will be full tax exemption for
the initial five years and thereafter a rebate of 30% for a period of five years
for IT companies. The added bonus is a 100% outright excise duty exemption for
10 years for the IT sector.
Bihar, which came to BangaloreIT.in for the first time is hoping to catch the
eye of biggies in IT business and woo them to the Software Technology Park at
Patna. Joining the bandwagon to woo IT majors into their states are Jharkhand,
Goa and Himachal Pradesh, all first timers at the BangaloreIT.in. On the anvil
are an Rs 6 crore STP at Patna, an IT park with satellite township facilities in
Jharkhand, a Special Economic Zone and IT park in Goa, and an ITPL park/Hi-tech
City near Shimla, along with Biotech Park.
The IT Inc in Karnataka meanwhile, contemplated on moving to tier two and
tier three cities in the state. Addressing the 'Beyond Bangalore' conference
at Bangalore IT.in, Minister of State for Labour, Tanvir Sait said, "Mysore
and Mangalore are already growing as important destinations for IT industries.
Other cities like Hubli-Dharwad, Belgaum, Gulbarga, Davangere and Hassan have
the potential to become IT hubs in the future. The government is taking steps to
ensure that all these destinations are well connected and have good
infrastructure."
Former Chief Secretary, BS Patil said he was actively involved in promoting
tier three cities in north Karnataka. He felt
that Hubli-Dharwad had everything that an industry would require to flourish. He
also said that as President of BPO.Ites.Com, he was involved in setting up a 'Finishing
School' where students were trained appropriately.
Healthy patronage
Among other things, this year too, the Bangaloreit.in drew an encouraging
response from Indian and multinational companies. According to the event
organizers, over 80% of the people were satisfied about the business
opportunities generated. "International participation was more than last
year, with over 250 delegates from various countries attending the event,
testifying to the significance of Bangalore as the country's technology
hub," said Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) Director B V Naidu.
Added attractions at the event were the Rural IT Quiz and the Student
Internet World, which offered an opportunity
for the younger generation to hone in their IT knowledge and skills. "An
overwhelming 65,000 students from all over Karnataka responded to the IT Quiz
this year, the highest so far," said the organizers.
The Student Internet World Program, aimed at instilling in the minds of
students the art of navigating the Web, drew response from all the 27 districts
of the State. Bellary district topped the districts with a whopping 52,111
students logging into the program, followed by Dakshina Kannada with 40,000
students and Chikmagalur with 16,250 students.
All in all, the IT exposition was dotted with business transactions,
technology seminars and promises of a better infrastructure. However it did not
seem to offer as the majority said, 'anything new' in terms of technology.
Many participants as well as visitors felt that the officials need to introspect
whether to continue on the same lines or bring in changes to infuse novelty into
the event, which has become predictable.
As the curtains fell after a tumultuous four days, the verdict appeared to be
that the fair needs to shift focus to showcasing latest product development and
technologies, lest it loses its relevance.
SUBBALAKSHMI BM
in Bangalore
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