… Bhubaneswar already ranks very high on the software exports frontwith Rs 732 crore completed in 2006-07, Bhubaneswar was 9th in the pecking order among Indian cities. Says Vishal Dev, director, IT, government of Orissa, “Till last year, we were the largest city in the whole of Eastern India on software exports, before being overtaken by Kolkata.” And, now have ambitious plans to reach $1,000 mn in software exports by 2012.
t is also one of the few cities in the country that boasts of the presence of the Big Four of Indian software exports. While Infosys and Satyam have been present in the city for quite some time and have 3,000 and 1,000 people respectively, TCS, after starting last year, has recruited 300 people. Wipro, too, has started campus construction. Add to this, Genpact, IBM Daksh, and ICICI, which are starting their eastern region BPO hubs, and it becomes obvious why Bhubaneswar today commands respect as an IT/BPO destination. The picture would not be complete without mentioning the arrival of MindTree Consulting, Aricent, Contiloe Films as well as Perfectus, which plan a 5,000 seater IT/BPO unit.
The arrival of these leading players also indicates how Bhubaneswar has come of age on both infrastructure as well as manpower fronts. The city today boasts of four SEZs: the earliest one, the 350 acre Infocity is already full; the first phase of the DLF Infopark work is in progress, work is starting on an integrated IT park, known as Knowledge Park, while sanction has been given to the Mancheswara Industrial Estate (29 acres).
Manpower
Such little details prove that while the IT juggernaut is in motion, Bhubaneswar is totally conscious of the need to develop a social infrastructure conducive to fostering IT. That explains why the state ranks high in terms of providing manpower supply; that with forty-five engineering colleges and forty-three MCA colleges, it could do so, is a no-brainer. But, while earlier this supply was mainly migrating elsewhere, it is now getting populated in Bhubaneswar itself.
That fact that technical education is a major priority of the state government has definitely helped. While engineering colleges affiliated to nine of the universities in the state were earlier brought and standardized under the aegis of the Biju Patnaik University, the government is now setting up an IIIT, where it will start with an M Tech program in order to create a crop of new qualified faculty. Also on the anvil are plans to start NISER and a campus of IIT Kharagpur. The Vedanta Group and Sri Sri Ravishankara Vidya Mandir Trust are also setting up technical colleges in the city.
Others in the Game
While the larger companies in the city registered an overall growth of 58% in 2006-07, SMEs like JSS witnessed 120% growth. JSS Consultancy is a domestic BPO playerit handles Citibank for the entire eastern region, as well as other major clients like Tata Indicom, HSBC, Citi Financial, HDFC Standard Life, and Centurion Bank for Orissa.
Its not only about the local SMEs; domestic IT consumption is also on the rise in the city. Reasons are not too far to locate: while Orissa today boasts of steel plants like Jindal, Bhushan, and Neelachal, very soon it will also have Posco, Arcelor-Mittal, and Tata Steel, making it probably the global steel hub. Add to this, power plants like the Jindals and aluminum plants like NALCO, Hindalco, and Sterlite. Paradip Port and the airport in Bhubaneswar are being modernized while the East Coast HQ is finally coming up next month.
Rajesh Dora, MD, Printlink, one of Bhubaneswars largest resellers and SIs, agrees to this. He also informs that other than the steel sector, even the engineering colleges and institutions like OUAT and Institute of Physics are significant consumers of IT.
The Future Sunrise
The experts, too, have endorsed a bright future for Bhubaneswar. According to McKinsey, Orissas economy is poised to grow at 7.1% over the next 10-12 years, the highest in Eastern India. Morgan Stanley comments that Orissa shall emerge as a center for metals business in India and attract investments of up to $3040 bn over the next five years. Even if these predictions are partially met, the impact of IT would be enough to create waves in the Bay of Bengal. The CMIEs forecast that Orissa accounted for 15% of total investments in hand in the country in 2006, and the World Bank ranking Bhubaneswar 5th among cities in ease of doing business within India further endorses the seal of approval. An oft-neglected, but very crucial role in this IT growth of the city has been played by the government. While on the e-Governance front, the state has won awards for two consecutive years (for the Shishu locator program and the OCAC website), a proactive government with an urbane and suave CM at the helm has created a conducive environment for IT. The stability of the political regime too has helped. A confident Naveen Patnaik proudly proclaims, “Bhubaneswar, indeed, is the future sunrise of the IT industry.”
