Coming of age

Known for Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC), Asia's biggest
industrial township, Ankleshwar is the hub of booming IT industry in the Gujarat
upcountry. With about 5,000 chemical plants, the region, which has survived a
slowdown with relative ease, has shown a lot of potential for IT growth.

Talking about the IT business in Ankleshwar, Irshad Gaud, the newly-elected
President of Ankleshwar Bharuch IT Association (ABITDA) and CEO of Lakhotia
Computer Center informed that there were 500 boxes sold this year, apart from
laptops and PCs. Shedding light on a survey conducted by Intel, he said that
Ankleshwar and Bharuch were awarded the title of being the fastest developing
upcountry regions in Gujarat. “We were thrilled to know that Canon earned a
growth of 230 percent in South Gujarat,” he added.

Inova 'Flood IT Project', an initiative by Gujarat government in association
with Cooperative Bank, recently stirred channel partners in the region, because
vendors attempted to keep partners away from the project. Later, vendors agreed
to involve channel partners after all.

Talking about ABITDA's future plans, Gaud informed that the association is
planning to hold meeting with Gujarat Assembly members, establish an e-library
in Bharuch and start an ABITDA Benefit card.

Vinesh Modi, CEO, Roman Telecom shared that his business has seen a downturn
in revenue figures of only 10 percent as compared to last year.

Sharing the same notion, Gaud added, “Since partners in this region don't
follow the traditional methods of doing business, we never experienced any
negative impact in business. There is unity amongst our members, and that is our
strength. In times of need, we help each other in investing or financing issues.
We have also come up with an ABITDA song, which is like an anthem to us and
depicts our unity,” he cheerfully added.

Modi is hopeful that with festival season right around the corner, his
business will see a remarkable growth, though he will be holding up his
expansion plans for some time. Sharing his future business plans, he said, “By
next quarter, we want to establish a new Lenovo retail team, which will consist
of 20 people, including engineers and technical people. We will soon be going to
Surat and Vapi for the same.”

Sharing the issues that channel partners are facing in the region, Modi
highlighted that there is very less margin in the box pushing business. “If the
IT market is affected in Ahmedabad, it affects our business directly or
indirectly,” he said.

Mayank Mehta of Sunshine Computers said that HP, Compaq, Dell and Lenovo are
the vendors who are doing well in the region. Lenovo is contributing upto 35
percent to Sunshine's revenue figures. But the matter that is a cause of worry
for Mehta, like many partners in Ankleshwar, is the practice of dumping the
boxes in the region. “This is adding to the pressure that we are facing to
perform in the business,” he shared. Talking about the opportunities, he
informed that with GIDC, SEZ and petro-chemical industries are the ones with
most potential for growth.

Talkin Zamindar, CEO, Media Infocom has a different story to share about the
impact of slowdown in his business. He informed that about 40-45 percent of his
business was affected by the downturn in the market. “Owing to little
competition in the region, as partners are handling their individual brands, we
are able to earn a profit of about three to four percent,” he informed.