In an effort to conduct the IT expo in Orissa at a larger scale by
accommodating more space for telecom and consumer electronics industry, IT
Association of Orissa (ITAO) has rescheduled the dates for the event postponing
it by a day.
According to the new schedule, the event will commence on Dec 24 and will end
on Dec 28. While the vendors account for nearly 250 stalls in four hangers, the
channel partners will get the remaining 35 priced stalls in the event. Resorting
to the use of canopy in the exhibition ground, the venue for the event, channel
partners are left with a small portion of the display area available.
Elaborating on the event plans, Dayananda Ratho, Secretary, ITAO commented,
“We have asked the Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister, Orissa, to inaugurate the
event. However, with elections on the row, if he does not turn up, we may ask
the governor of the state to inaugurate the same.”
Speaking on rescheduling the dates for the expo, Ratho added, “There were
some issues with the sponsors and many of them were not finalized beforehand. In
our last meeting, ITAO unanimously agreed to postpone the event by a day,
primarily on sponsor's requests. This time, we have also incorporated the
telecom and, consumer electronics segment in the expo.”
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Naveen Patnaik, CM,
Orissa |
With a total estimated cost of over half a crore for the expo, ITAO is
planning to earn 30 percent profit. With an estimate of nearly 15,000 visitors
every day, ITAO will shortly be finalizing consumer offers flooding it with
discounts, cash benefits and other schemes.
The SMB segment has seen the highest growth in the state, contributing to
over 30 percent of the total consumer segment. With e-governance projects and
data center projects rolling in, the IT retail segment is on a boom in the
state. Compared to the markets in the East which are on a steady decline and is
on the way to stagnation, only Bhubaneswar is registering a steady growth in
the region, mainly because of bulk purchases by the state government and
thriving SMB sector.
However, it is the end-user, SOHO segment and the enterprise segment, which
are accounting for the major portion in the wholesale and retail markets.
Primarily targeted towards the enterprise and the end-user section in the state,
the event is also focussing on the SOHO segment after the recently held ITAO
exhibition committee meeting.
Providing an ideal opportunity for both the vendors and channel community,
the expo is set to cash the thriving IT market in the state. Aiming to contain
the visitors in the expo, Ratho concluded, “Our primary objective is to spread
IT, telecom and technological awareness among the people across the state and it
is because of this that we are having three sections-IT, telecom and consumer
electronics verticals in the same event.”