Imphal: Bane of insurgency

Nestled in the beautiful state of Manipur, Imphal is also the capital city of this northeastern state.

The city is bounded by Nagaland in the North, Mizoram in the South and Assam in the West; it also borders the country of Myanmar to the East. Imphal is drained by several small rivers originating from the hills surrounding it. These include the Imphal, Iril, Sekmai, Thoubal and Khuga rivers.

The city is famous for handloom and hand made products.

Talking about the information technology market of Imphal, the market is still naive in the region. In total, the entire Manipur region boast of a meager number of approximately 30 dealers. The IT market of Imphal is not very vibrant, with just a few partners operating in the city. On top of it the market is performing at a very low scale from the past few months. Sadananda Rajkumar, CEO, Symphony Computers said, "The market is not doing good since the past two months, owing to the highway blockage. It lasted for nearly 100 days. But the situation is improving now." Jeevan Chandra of Mangall Infotech also echoed similar sentiments and said, "The market is faring poorly, mainly because of the hardisk crisis. Peripheral prices have gone up and hence desktop sales have gone down due to the crisis. I can see a dip of 40-50% in the market."

The only sector providing some business is the retail segment. According to the dealers, retail is the only segment where from business is pouring in. Talking about the top selling products and brands in the city, Rajkumar said, "HP is the #1 brand here; while the sales of laptops and desktops are at par. Both sells here in the market." Chandra said, "Among laptops, Asus and HP sells the most. While assembled desktops are preferred when it comes to desktops. However, Lenovo and HP desktops also sells in the market."

Talking about the vendor dealer relationship, Rajkumar said, "I do not face any problem with my vendors. We have been associated since a very long time and share good relations. Even if we face some problems, we solve it on our own through discussions." However, an astonishing fact that came forth is that the city doesn't have any IT association functioning at the local level. Chandra said, "There is no IT association in the region. Even if we want, it will not be possible for the people to come up with one, due to insurgency problem. The insurgents will demand money from the association and hence it will not be able to function in the region."

Amidst these disheartening facts, dealers of the city is hopeful of a positive future in the coming times.

Market Name: Imphal

Market Location: Manipur

Surrounding Markets: Guwahati, Shillong, Agartala

Computer Association: None

Prominent Dealers: Mangall Infotech, Sanmati Traders, Symphony Computers

Business Verticals: Retail

Number of Active Dealers: 30 (approx)

IT Hub: Thangal bazar, Shiv bazar, Paona bazar