The retail boom in the country has initiated a chain reaction. Quite naturally, its related industries such as property development, transport and logistics and agri businesses are growing rapidly. These industries are also becoming process-centric and are leveraging technology to tackle global competition.
In the past 12 months, infrastructure and logistics were among the fastest growing verticals for IT product companies. The mid-market segment in these industries is hotting up like never before, says Chetan Pathak, vice president, Enterprise Solutions, India, Ramco Systems.
Indian companies are either fighting with global players within the country or becoming part of the global supply chain. This has forced them to follow best practices in their respective industries. IT as an enabler is helping businesses to grow rapidly, he adds.
The growth is also causing consolidation among the smaller players. Logistics companies are now concentrating more on their core businesses, where there is a high entry barrier, says Subhomoy Sengupta, senior director, Applications Business, Oracle India Pvt Ltd.
Recently, Sical Logistics hived off its non-logistics businesses to concentrate more on its core areas. Incidentally, Sical is also an Oracle ERP (enterprise resource planning applications) customer.
However, the growth is not reflected in the agri business, which is directly linked to the retail boom. Though Oracle has customers in the sector including two dairies in Gujarat and Suguna Chicken in Tamil Nadu, the growth is comparatively slow, says Subhomoy. The agriculture segment is highly fragemented and this could be a reason, he adds. However, for the next three years, infrastructure and logistics promise high growth, he says.
