Call it a meltdown-provided opportunity! Strange as it may sound, the current global financial worries which has made companies worldwide look aggressively at outsourcing and consider every possible way to save on costs may actually work to the advantage of Kolkata, where the costs of doing business has traditionally been one of the cheapest in India.
Coupled with the city's recognised strengths on the human resources front — a fact proved by the large number of Bengalis occupying senior positions in the top 3 Indian IT majors — and the tendency of the local populace to stay on to their jobs longer than their counterparts in other cities, the present downturn could actually help Kolkata attract a lot of investments on the information technology front if authorities play their cards right, and instead of wallowing in despair at the loss of image caused by the unfortunate developments in Nandigram and Singur, choose to highlight how a presence in Paschim Banga, at this stage could help companies remain competitive during these turbulent times.
While admittedly this task is not easy considering that many companies have now put fresh infrastructure expansions on hold because of their urge to save capital to meet their short-to-medium term requirements amid the uncertainty surrounding the pace of orders from the US — India's biggest market — it must still be remembered that the likes of TCS, Infosys, Wipro and scores of other companies have not put a stop to growth at existing locations where they have operations.
Price and people
Since Kolkata already has TCS, Wipro and Tech Mahindra among the domestic giants, and the likes of IBM, Cognizant, Genpact and HSBC Electronic Data Processing among large foreign companies having operations in Kolkata, the State Government should encourage these companies to step up the scope of work that they undertake from here by harping on the 2Ps — price and people — that Kolkata brings to the table. If this is done successfully, the state can witness a two-fold benefit — boost in the quantum of software exports from the city and a manifold rise in employment opportunities.
What authorities should do is to tell these companies that they would have nothing to lose and lots to gain if they move more projects to Kolkata since the low operational costs and comparatively lower wages payable here would help these firms improve their margins. Their message should be that with margins coming under pressure following clients trying to renegotiate even existing deals, domestic IT companies could not ask for a better location than Kolkata from where they could meet this challenge.
Since major infrastructure-related decisions at large companies are invariably taken at the headquarters of those firms, which are not located in Kolkata, the people entrusted with the responsibility of attracting IT investments in Bengal — the IT department and Webel — should increase their outreach activities so that the State's strengths during these challenging times are communicated properly to those who matter.
This communication could take the form of holding meetings face-to-face preferably at a company's head office in case it is based in India and through video conferencing if the outreach is directed at a foreign company and overseas travel is not possible for some reason.
Other ways of increasing communication could take the form of participating in IT seminars organised by leading IT organisations since these are usually attended by head honchos of the technology world and provide excellent networking opportunities. E-mails being sent out by the Chief Minister or the IT Minister to the titans of the IT arena both within India and abroad about how Bengal can help them counter the current difficult economic climate could also achieve excellent results.
The starting point, however, could be upgrading the Web sites of the IT department and Webel so that these reflect how the State is geared up to come to the aid of companies during the downturn we are presently witnessing.
Since the current world economic environment is bound to improve because of the concerted efforts being put in by the international community to address the problem, the State, however, should use the present time to put its own house in order and settle some pending infrastructure-related issues. Efforts should be made to ensure that IT parks announced with much fanfare earlier are ready within the timelines indicated in the past. The Government should also create a land bank during this temporary slowdown in business activity so that when the boom returns, it is in a position to hand over plots to companies who want to establish campuses of their own.
On Nasscom's part, we continue to be bullish about the opportunities in the eastern region, particularly West Bengal. We are regularly communicating to our members the advantages that companies can derive by starting operations in Kolkata. The decision to set up an office in Salt Lake's Sector V and raise headcount there is testimony to how we are walking the talk in this respect.
Nasscom meet
We recently organised Nasscom's first-ever Emergeout Summit in Kolkata, aimed at small and medium business enterprises where over 250 delegates from industry, government, academia, evangelists and think-tanks participated to deliberate on the current business climate and how greater IT adoption could make the world a better place to live in. Our intention is to hold more such high-profile meetings in various cities in the East in future so that more people can benefit from such events.
Nasscom is actively engaging with different State Governments in the Eastern Region to develop ‘employable manpower' by launching our signature initiatives — Nasscom Assessment of Competence (NAC) and Nasscom Assessment of Competence-Technology (NAC-Tech) — in this part of India. We will roll-out more such programmes in the coming days to integrate the East with the other recognised IT hotspots within India. Currently, we are also trying to popularize another of our programmes — the National Skills Registry (NSR) — in the East. The NSR is an initiative which allows third-party validation of data provided by job applicants.
Animation, content writing, design to mention a few are strong points of this region and Nasscom is committed to work with the state governments, to ensure that how many more boys and girls could be equipped with appropriate skills, so that they could join this industry and at the same time, how the IT industry gears up to develop ICT applications that really help the poorest of the poor. Mr Som Mittal, President, Nasscom, has always been speaking on these lines.
The State Government also, I must admit, has a strong resolve to make e-development as an engine for transforming West Bengal into a developed state and an empowered society and it is reflected through the establishment of an IT Advisory Group, under the chairmanship of Mr. Sam Pitroda, comprising some of the biggest names in the IT arena here.
This also demonstrates the West Bengal government's willingness to contribute to the growth of the technology sector in this part of India. This Group is expected to take stock of the current developments in the world of IT and how the East, particularly West Bengal, could take advantage of the situation. The first meeting witnessed the august presence of none other than the State IT Minister.
The State Government should encourage IT companies to step up the scope of work that they undertake from here by harping on the 2Ps — price and people — that Kolkata brings to the table.