The Hindu Business Line : Amazonian lure!

Want a supplier in Salem to bid for a tender from the Andhra Pradesh Government? Or do you want India to follow Brazil in rural connectivity? eWorld found the answers to those questions at a recent summit on e-governance.

WHY is the Amazon or Mt Everest alluring? Simple - it's there to be conquered and it's not an easy task doing it, but it is rewarding. eWorld met two technology providers recently at an e-governance summit and both these qualities seem to have guided their initiatives in the area. Working with the government may require initiative and stamina, but it's worth it. . Meet Shekhar Dasgupta, managing director, Oracle India and Vivek Agrawal, chief operating officer and president, CommerceOne India.

According to Dasgupta, India could take a leaf out of Brazil's attempts to narrow the digital divide. "Brazil also has the same problems as India, in getting its rural populace digitally networked with the rest of the country." Surely, the Amazonian jungle is no easy obstacle to surmount. So what did Brazil do?

Shekhar Dasgupta

It noticed that there was at least one vehicle, a truck or a government bus that touched every village in the country. So it has provided every such vehicle with a transponder that can help computers at a place network with the rest of Brazil.

Dasgupta says that this is one of the solutions that Oracle has suggested to governments across India. He says that not too much has happened on these fronts, where "innovative solutions have been suggested, but it's only a matter of time before things begin to move."

Asked how different it was selling to government agencies, Dasgupta said, "Most projects in the private sector are transaction-based. With the government, they are focused on the flow of information." This is also referred to as workflow. According to him, "Workflow is an area of priority for most government departments. Even for a department such as revenues, it's workflow that is talked about first. Also, several processes need to be changed in order to ensure that the department gets the best out of technology."

Ask him if he finds resistance to change more when dealing with government departments and he says, "Be it the private or public sector, leadership from top management is necessary. With the government, we need political will and leadership from the bureaucracy."

What is the area of priority for governments wanting to digitise data? Says Dasgupta, "Most governments are running up fiscal deficits that they want to reduce, so that those savings can be directed to build up infrastructure. So, financial management systems are a priority for most of them."

How does such a system help? "Typically, there is a disbursement officer who is authorised to clear expenditure upto an upper limit of say Rs 2 crore, per proposal. He does not know how many such Rs 2 crore projects he has authorised. The state government too does not know this until it is time to pay up. If this activity is automated and information is available real time, there can be a check on expenditure." He states that likewise, non-performing assets are the focus area for banks.

He adds that the next step, after cutting down costs, is to integrate all services of the government so that information is not replicated.

Vivek Agrawal

Meanwhile, CommerceOne is in the process of sewing up a 50:50 joint venture with the Andhra Pradesh government for its procurement activity. Agrawal set up shop even at a time when the government did not commit to a stake in the initiative.

Ask him about it and he agrees it was risky. But, he says, "We were convinced that it would work. Fortunately, it did." Now the AP government is willing to pitch in, after realising the benefits of an online procurement exercise. Agrawal says that initially, it was difficult to overcome resistance. Asked to elaborate on what the objections to the project were in the initial stages, Agrawal says, "Objections are common, whether in the government or in the private sector." The threat of losing power to an automated process slowed the project in its early days. "But once they saw value, it was smooth sailing," he says.

What are the benefits of the automation of procurement in AP? Agrawal puts the time taken now for processing one tender at a month and a half — down from an earlier time of five to six months. Says Agrawal, "Some departments even do it within 25 days. Our target is to bring it down to 15 days."

What is most significant is that the number of bids per tender has gone up from three per tender to an average of 6.7 per tender now. How did that happen? Why should the number of bids go up just because a department has automated its procurement process? He explains, "Earlier, there used to be cartels. In fact, in the Rayalaseema district in Andhra Pradesh, there have been instances of a group of suppliers physically preventing others from entering the premises to place their bids. Now, a bidder from Salem called us up and expressed his relief at the tenders going online. He was able to pitch in thanks to the new system."

He says that the total value of tenders that have been bid for online has crossed Rs 500 crore. According to him, "That itself has generated a saving of about Rs 100 crore - or 20 per cent - as compared to the previous year. Tenders worth Rs 1,700 crore and more are now online. Out of Rs 8,000 crore worth of procurement tenders expected this year, the government wants to bring at least 25 per cent of them online."

CommerceOne India, an affiliate of CommerceOne Inc, has its own software development facility.

The India arm owns the intellectual property for software developed. Now, with the JV coming on, the property could be transferred to that unit. However, the details are yet to be ironed out, he says. With the experience of bringing a government purchasing process online, the company is set to address markets in UK, Canada and Australia. Says Agrawal, "Governments in the Commonwealth countries work a lot like ours do."

bharatk@thehindu.co.in

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication

Stories in this Section
The scene's brighter

Be heard!

It's easier step by step

Big, bigger ...

Distribution isn't always so simple

Quiz

Clinching a smart bargain

Cartoon

At your fingertips

Make your call

Sophisticated slave...