NITO plans to hold expo in December

Just as the IT market across eastern India has started to recover, the region
is planning to hold IT expos. Siliguri-based North Bengal IT Trader's
Association (NITO) has taken the lead by scheduling its expo later this year.

Well placed sources in NITO said that the association is planning to hold the
IT expo in December, after a stalemate of about two years. While it is looking
for vendor participation, the association is not keen on national distributors
participation in the event.

An expo committee has already been selected with Sankar Dhar of Protech
Computers being appointed as the Chairman. Additionally, various sub-committees
have been formed to co-ordinate the event.

Elaborating on the plans, Dhar said, “We are expecting to make the expo a big
success and are planning to hold it by the end of Dec. This time, we are
targeting large-scale vendor participation and are offering low budget stalls to
enhance dealer participation in the region.”

Although NITO declared that the plans for the expo are still in its nascent
stage and things are yet to be arranged and finalized, dealers in the region are
quite enthusiastic about it.

Commenting over the need for having an expo, Suresh Bhagat of Polaris
Infotech said, “An expo is one of the primary needs in this region. After the
slowdown, we need to showcase our products and an expo is the best platform to
do that. If the expo happens I'll definitely participate in it.”

Although markets across the East have shown signs of recovery with Kolkata
and Orissa upcountry leading the way, Siliguri is yet to recover from the loss.
Dealers across the region opined that the market is suffering from the trouncing
of business clients and it will take time to resume normal business.

Keen on the expo, NITO has sanctioned a budget of Rs 10 lakh. It is working
on fixing stall rates.

“Under the reeling market conditions in the region, we need an expo on a
priority basis. Our primary target is the end-user segment which accounts for
the majority of the consumer vertical. Also, with the vendors participating, we
hope to tap in the enterprise and SMB segment too.

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.