Punjab?s efforts to attract IT big-wigs have failed to yield the desired results. Despite the much-hyped official visit of the state industry and commerce minister Manoranjan Kalia and a high-profile delegation sent to Bangalore and Hyderabad, no fresh investment from the IT sector has come to the state.
In order to woo the IT industry and obtain their perspective on the roadmap that Panjab needs to chart out for the growth of the sector, the government held a high-level meeting with top IT decision makers and infrastructure developers on the inaugural session of e-Revolution 2009. According to top officials, a key objective of the government was to set the course for a future dialogue with industry and co-opt them as a stakeholder in Punjab?s IT success. The event was hosted by the governments of Chandigarh, Haryana, Punjab and STPI in association with Nasscom, TiE and India Angel Networks.
Principal secretary industries SS Channy said, ?A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was also signed with Nasscom for the implementation NAC-Tech certification programme in Punjab. The meeting witnessed a very high level of participation from noted CEOs and regional heads of top IT companies, including organisations such as Dell, Wipro, IBM, Oracle, Infosys and Sapient among others. The companies have shown good interest in Punjab, and we are hopeful of good results,? he added.
However, senior officials admit that even after participating in a major event like e-Revolution for five years, no investment has flowed into the state in the IT sector. Earlier, the state had also decided to offer relaxations to IT companies in Floor Area Ratio (FAR) as an additional incentive, but with no success.
About a year ago, the delegation led by Kalia had gone down south to persuade IT companies to come to Punjab. A delegation from the state had also participated in the TiE conference at Delhi, and hosted a meeting with over 20 companies, including Infosys, TCS, Wipro, Cognizant, Perot Systems, IBM-Daksh and Convergys, among others. Little has come of the effort. Meanwhile Haryana, which borders Punjab, has a number of IT and BPO companies based in Gurgaon.
Kalia continues to be confident about the prospect of IT majors coming to the state. Talking to FE, he said, ?I have personally written letters to various IT companies, inviting them to invest in the state. Many of them have evinced interest, and have responded positively. Due to economic meltdown, these companies have postponed their expansion plans. This is one of the reasons that we are not witnessing immediate results. Our visit to IT hubs to market the potential in the state was a confidence-building exercise. We have been creating a brand image to position the state as an IT destination. I am quite hopeful that our efforts will bring results, but it can take sometime. A good sign is that the economy is on revival path,? stated Kalia.
Commenting on the issue of high cost of land and power crunch in the state, the minister said that the state government will offer incentives to IT companies. Last year, the state had hired a leading consultancy, Ernst and Young, to study the issue. The firm submitted its report, titled ?Punjab ?s Strategic Roadmap for IT/ITeS Investment? in July.
The firm had conducted an extensive study of the ground realities in the state, and had come up with various recommendations to push the growth of IT sector. It had pointed out that Punjab, primarily an agrarian state, was not early mover in the IT/ITeS revolution, but joined the second phase of IT growth in the late 90s.
The report had further observed that Punjab has a poor track record with large players. Infosys had exited from Mohali and shifted to Chandigarh. Later, Wipro and TCS followed the same route due to land issues.