Commonwealth Games hits Delhi channels

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With the Commonwealth
Games (CWG) 2010 round the corner, the IT channel business in Delhi
is expected to hit at a significant level. The Delhi government is
not leaving any stone unturned to facilitate the upcoming mega event
but the traffic restrictions and closure of government offices and
schools during those 15 days will have an adverse impact on IT
business in the national capital.

Channel marketplaces like
Nehru Place, Wazirpur, Ranjeet Nagar, Janakpuri District Center,
Laxminagar and Connaught Place witness heavy turnout of visitors,
particularly in the first-half of every month, which will coincide
with the CWG, this October. In Nehru Place alone, more than one lakh
people visit around 1,250 IT product dealers and resellers everyday.
As the local administration has already started security drills and
CWG lane trials, the impact is apparently evident in the market. The
DQ Week spoke
to some of the leading IT partners in the metro to gauge the
situation. Manoj Khanna, Director of Ranjeet Nagar-based Compucover
East and Secretary of CMDA, feels that the Commonwealth Games have
not been aptly managed. He said, "The closure of schools,
colleges and government offices will impact the channel business in
the region. The stock movement will also be hampered and will not
reach the warehouses due to restrictions on traffic movement."

According to Khanna,
people might stay at home or move out of the city during the 19th
Commonwealth Games, scheduled from 3^rd October to 14^th
October 2010. Harish Puri, Director, Computer Empire said that there
will be around 25 percent impact on business. "The borders
en-route to Delhi will be closed and customers from adjoining
regions, who prefer the metro would not be able to make a purchase,"
said Puri. According to him, the affect has already been visible due
to security drills and traffic alignments. "There has been a lot
of confusion over the CWG and people are not aware of the
availability of transportation during the 12-day long sports event in
the city. The channel business will be expected to hit by around 20
to 25 percent in the region," said Somesh Narang of Nehru
Place-based Elcom Trading Company. SR Nautiyal of Spark Technologies
feels that due to the closure of educational institutions and
government offices, the business will be affected by around 20
percent. "Our marketing team may not be able to manage the
business throughout the entire period. Additionally, most of the
customers will be reluctant to visit the marketplace due to the slow
traffic movement, partly due to the creation of CWG lanes, thus
impacting our business at a significant level," said Nautiyal.