'No Entry' for HP in Raipur

The capital of Chhattisgarh, Raipur was formerly a part of Madhya Pradesh before the state of Chhattisgarh was formed in 2000. Raipur is located near the center of a large plain, sometimes referred as the 'rice bowl of India', due to its production of a huge variety of rice. The city is the largest market of steel in India and is among the richest cities and is India's biggest iron market. There are more than 800 rice milling plants, and all major and local cement manufacturing companies have a presence in the city. Raipur is also a well-known hub for education in the region as a number of institutes of national repute have set up their base there.

Apart from the above mentioned industries, the information technology sector is also a flourishing segment in Raipur. There are close to 150 dealers operating in the city, generating a huge revenue of approximately Rs 400 crore annually. Raipur market from the past few days has been doing an average business. Dealers of the city, cite different reasons for the same. According to Kishore Makhija, CEO, Priyanka Computer Services, the market has been doing an average business from the past two months. He said that it was a generic momentum that the market is going through. Amit Bidasaria, MD, VSN International said, "The current situation is not very good. Raipur is a grappling market, mainly due to the demographic reason, as it is surrounded by 4 important markets and suffers mainly due to this. It is a sporadic market."

Talking about the top selling brands and products of the market, Makhija said, "Dell and Sony are the top selling brands in the city, and laptop scores well when it comes to products." Bidasaria said in concurrence, "Sony and Dell laptops sells the most; while HCL, Acer and Lenovo desktops are the favored ones here." While mostly all the verticals are doing well in the city, SOHO and government sectors are the primary contributors towards growth. While talking about the IT association in the region-Chhatisgarh Computer and Media Dealer Association (CCMDA)-the dealers were of the opinion that the association is slowly losing its vigor and is turning inactive in the region. While Makhija said that the association is not very active currently, Bidasaria said that the association was really active in the past.

When asked about the vendor-dealer relationship prevailing in the city, Bidasaria said that there is no major problem that he faces with his vendors, except HP. Makhija said in concurrence, "I do not have any problem with Dell and Sony; however with HP we face some replacement issues, in a sense that they do not replace expired cartridges."

Market Name: Raipur

Market Location: Chhattisgarh

Surrounding Markets: Mumbai, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Nagpur

Computer Association: Chhatisgarh Computer and Media Dealer Association (CCMDA)

Prominent Dealers: Balaji Computers, Compute And Compile, Hitech Solutions, Infotech Solutions, Priyanka Computer Services, VSN International

Business Verticals: SOHO

Number of Active Dealers: 30-40