Would Partners Board The Train?

February end in India, the media is

always abuzz with the impact of the Union Budget-what would become

costlier, and what would come cheaper (the latter more in hope as

inflation normally takes care of that and ensures the price graphs

for everything move north). This year the cricket World Cup hype and

hoopla has surely taken away some of the sheen from the Budget, but

that still did not stop the media from analyzing threadbare the gains

and losses for each sector. It has not been different for IT too.

However, amidst all the hullabaloo round Pranab's Budget, what often

tends to get missed out that two days before that another budget

presentation is also done-the Railway Budget.

While it is true to a large extent

(what many critics are shouting hoarse) that Mamata's Budget,

particularly this year, was with an eye to capture the Writers

Building in Kolkata, it would be immature to deride or ignore several

good aspects of the Railway Budget. In fact, there have been several

announcements that are not just positively beneficial for the IT

industry, but can act as catalysts for growth, for everyone including

partners. Therefore while the partners are busy arguing the merits

and demerits of PC component price rise, it might make some sense for

them to focus on how some of Mamata's announcements can bolster their

business.

First, a look at some of the Rail

Budget highlights that could have an impact on IT. Immediately on the

anvil is a new portal for e-ticketing to be launched shortly-as

well as a pan India multi-purpose smart card 'Go India'. The latter

is to be a single window purchase of long distance, suburban, or

metro tickets through booking counters, vending machines and the

Internet. Many of our solution providers as well as partners who

offer Web-based solutions could jump into the queue for this

project-with Railways looking at actively cutting down on costs,

the smaller solution providers could come with a natural advantage

over their MNC counterparts.

But where partners could really come in

earnest is into the e-procurement system that Railways is planning to

launch to improve transparency-unlike other Government departments,

this could be a more level playing field as Railways, working on a

shoestring budget, would actively pursue cost arbitrage while

choosing partners. All India Security Help line on a single number

set up could be the lucrative business opportunity for partners

interested in doing a bit of domestic BPO work. And any project for

Railways would always ensure necessary scale, that could help in

partners earning better profits especially where their margins in

traditional businesses have shrunk significantly. There could be

other opportunities for partners to jump into the railway bandwagon

too-Web access will be allowed to Kolkata Rajdhani on pilot basis,

while there can be AMC work for a Center of Excellence in Software at

Darjeeling proposed under the aegis of CRIS, real time train

information system 'SIMRAN' developed in association with IIT Kanpur.

The other technology areas include a

GPS-based 'Fog Safe' device to be deployed, a project with IIT

Chennai on prototype manufacture of ultrasonic systems; a

collaborative study with IIT Mumbai on rail corrosion, anti-collision

devices to be commissioned in three Railway zones including Southern,

South Central and South Western soon with provision to have them in

eight out of 17 zones. While these apparently might not attract

partners, you never know especially at a time when many of them are

looking at newer avenues beyond IT. The Railways Budget might help

Mamata slay her Left nemesis in Bengal, but a serious look at it

could help many partners bolster their businesses.