AN EMERGING IT HUB

There was a time, when Jalandhar was known as a hub for sports goods, but
things have changed now for this city located in the affluent state of Punjab.
With a population of more than 20 lakh, the city has a lot more to offer to its
residents in terms of business opportunities. In the last 10 years, a whole lot
cities in India developed business-wise and so did Jalandhar. The city has
become a prominent educational center and is home to various universities like
Lovely Professional University, Punjab Technical University and several medical
colleges. Coincidentally, the education sector has also become a big business
vertical for the 20 year-old IT market in Jalandhar. “Around 70 percent of our
business here comes from the educational institutes and the rest comes from
manufacturing industries,” said Rajiv Khanna of Computer Touch and Media Advisor
to the Jalandhar Computer Dealer Association (JCDA).

As far as specific product goes, Laptops are gaining constant popularity
amongst the people in Jalandhar. “In the last two weeks, I have sold 10 laptops.
Laptops are becoming popular mainly amongst the youths from colleges and they
are our target customers. Nearly 60 percent market in Jalandhar is of laptops
and the rest comprise of networking and media products, desktops and gadgets,”
said Khanna.

The other products, which are doing well in the market are wireless routers
and security surveillance products. Parminder Saini of Netpro said that in the
current scenario of booming demand of these products, selling them is not tough
anymore. “To give an estimated figure, if I used to sell around 100 routers one
year ago, then now I sell around 250. The sale of Firewall and anti-virus
products have also gone up. I don't have to try hard to sell these products
anymore, customers want them all the time,” explained Saini.

The IT market in Jalandhar is also well supported by an active association in
the city, the Jalandhar Computer Dealer Association (JCDA). “Our association
consists of more than
110 registered members and the additions will keep on happening in the coming
time,” hoped an optimistic Rupesh Sharma, President of TCDA.

Bharat Sharma