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Bengal IT Traders
Organization (NITO) launched its annual IT exhibition at the
Stadium
Mela Ground in Siliguri with the objective of maximizing channel
trade in the North Bengal area.
Inaugurated by Ashok
Bhattacharya, Cabinet Minister-Urban Development and Municipal
Affairs, Government of West Bengal and Nantu Pal, Deputy Mayor of
Siliguri Municipal Corporation, the event kick started on a high note
with visitors in the expo exceeding NITO's expectations on the very
first inaugural eve. “We are overwhelmed with the response we have
received so far from the visitors. Although we do not have any
traditional 'theming' policy for the fair, we are trying to bring
the small scale IT dealers in the area to the forefront,” said
Manoj Baid, President, NITO.
Drawing a large scale
participation from the sponsors; with Logitech featuring as the
primary sponsor of the event, along with other key vendors, the
channel community in the area has actively taken up sponsorships in
the area. “Besides Intex featuring as the co-sponsor for the event,
we have received good response from the channel community and have
been successful in bringing the channels at the forefront this time
as sponsors of the event,” said Shankar Dhar, Chairman-Exhibition
Committee, NITO.
Computer Land, Universal
Computer, Laptop Bazaar, Netai Computers and Technocrat are the
associated sponsors of the event.
Further, in its efforts to
push the channels into active participation, NITO has offered low
budget stalls to enhance dealer participation in the region. The
budget for the expo is estimated at Rs 14 lakh and the total number
of stalls is projected at 114. This amounts to a steep 40 percent
increase, compared to its last expo in the previous year. Besides, the
association
has successfully concluded the IT Parikrama across 20 locations in
North Bengal excluding Sikkim.
“The average footfall in
the expo this time may suffer a bit as a result of the Gorkha
agitation in Darjeeling; and the nearby hilly area together with
Sikkim is being cut off. As this is a political problem, we cannot do
anything except witness the outcome silently,” Baid concluded.
The Siliguri-based
association has been active in the region with exhibitions and
channel communications since its inception in mid 2009 emerging out
of the IT forum, based out of the same area. Presently, in Siliguri,
the SOHO segment accounts for about 35 percent of the sales with the
enterprise and SMB segment accounting for 20 percent each and the
defense segment taking the rest of the share. Through the expo, NITO
is planning to tap market potentials arising from these segments.
The DQ Week is the
official media partner for the NITO IT Expo.