No 'pujor utshaho' for Kolkata IT market

Kolkata, the land of roshogolla, sandesh, fish curry, and mishti dohi, is the principal commercial, cultural, and educational centre of East India. Located on the bank of the Hooghly river, the capital of West Bengal houses the Port of Kolkata, India's oldest operating as well as its sole major riverine port. Known for its literary, artistic, and revolutionary heritage, the city is also home to the Calcutta Stock Exchange.

Termed as the 'city of furious, creative energy' and the 'cultural capital of India', Kolkata houses many industrial units operated by large public and private sector corporations including major sectors like steel, heavy engineering, mining, minerals, cement, pharmaceuticals, food processing, agriculture, electronics, and textiles. ITC, Coal India, and Britannia Industries are some of the biggies headquartered in the city.

The city also boasts of various heritage buildings and attractions like the nation's oldest museum, the Indian museum, marble palace, the national library of India, Howrah bridge, and the very famous Victoria memorial.

Although the city has a plethora of IT-SEZ and IT parks, attracting software corporations and foreign direct investment, the current state of its IT market is not on a high. While the month of August was quite good, dealers say, the followings months witnessed a downfall. "August was excellent for us. May be because of reopening of schools and colleges. But business has declined since September, may be because, people are now shopping for festivals and have postponed their investments in IT," opines Gaurav Goel, CEO, Eastern Logica Infoway.

However the partners have pinned hopes in the coming times. While currently laptops of Dell, HP and Lenovo score high when it comes to best selling IT product, dealers feel that the market for tablets is also going to be big in the future. "There is lot of craze for tablets among people. I feel its market is going to fare very well in the coming times," said Pradeep Jhawar from Berlia Compu System.

The Kolkata IT market also has an association with the name 'COMPASS - Computer Association of Eastern India', which is quite active in solving various problems, like the warranty issue, between vendors and dealers. It also conducts AGMs besides various socially relevant events too.

Market Name: Kolkata
Market Location: West Bengal
Surrounding Markets: Siliguri, Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri
Computer Association: Computer Association of Eastern India (COMPASS)
Prominent Dealers: eastern Logica Infoway, Bard Roy Infotech, Berlia Compu System, Galaxy Computech, Alco Infotech, Balaji Solutions
Business Verticals: SMB, Education
Number of Active Dealers: 500 (approx)

Interview 1:
Pradeep Jhawar, CEO, Bard Roy Infotech

What are your market predictions for this year?
We expect it to fare well in the future. I think the market for tablets is going to be big.

How active is the IT association in your region?
Our association COMPASS is quite active.

Which is the best selling IT product?
Laptops of HP, Dell, and Lenovo sell most.

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Interview 2:
Gaurav Goel, CEO, Eastern Logica Infoway

What are the current market trends?
August was excellent but September was a bad month for us.

What are your market predictions for this year?
We expect the sales to increase in the coming times.

How many active dealers are there in Kolkata.
Approximately 500.