The country that produces one of the world's best scientists, doctors, and
engineers, software engineers included, goofs up when it comes to roads and
townships. This is how one senior IT professional from the UK described India
when I met him at an industry dinner recently. He had got stuck for over 50
minutes in the now infamous BRT (bus rapid transport) corridor while driving
from South Delhi to Gurgaon, India's model millennium city.
Even though I defended it as a teething issue in a growing country and
reminded him of similar problems now coming up in London and New York, I knew
how right he was. I have met many people, auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers
included, who said they were not sure how this BRT would work in the limited
space we have there.
I have never been to Dalian, the model city which China proudly showcases,
but have not met anybody who tires from singing its praises. Dalian is said to
be a great place for living as well as for doing business. Unfortunately, India
does not have anything like that, and there is nothing in the pipeline. Hotspots
like Gurgaon and Pune are a nightmare in terms of roads, power supply, and
public security.
During one of my meetings with Kiran Karnik, former Nasscom president, he had
explained how he and Nasscom had to get very active in Delhi's metro train
project. Smooth and efficient transport facilities for software and IT/ITeS
professionals to and from Delhi and its suburbs were very important for the
industry to grow.
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Ibrahim Ahmad |
Everybody will say that Nasscom is an IT industry body and has many other
more significant things to focus on, but I think infrastructure is one of the
most important challenges we are faced with. It might be a good idea, for that
reason, if Nasscom and MAIT could once again get involved and have on their
agenda the objective to influence and facilitate planning of roads, flyovers,
electricity supply, and local transport in key cities and towns.
Beyond this, I am sure there are many Indian companies that have delivered
solutions that created world-class infrastructure systems. Nasscom should engage
the governments, and these companies should be encouraged to work with state
governments and local planning bodies.
The high-pitch growth and activities in IT that we are currently witnessing
could take a big hit if infrastructure does not catch up. One reason is that
Indian professionals are now exposed to world-class roads, flyovers, offices,
housing complexes, and, therefore, their expectations have gone up manifold. And
they do not mind working from other countries. Moreover, there are so many
countries that are not just promising the moon but are actually setting up
best-in-class infrastructure. Nobody would want to set up business in India, if
infrastructure, which in many cases will bring competitive edge, is not good.