Located just an hour away from the state capital, Cuttack boasts of two major
industries-handloom textiles and healthcare. Although the former segment has
little to contribute in the growth of IT retail and sales, the healthcare
industry has been consistently chipping in the growth of IT sales.
The market growth has been quite low in the last FY primarily owing to the
dip in sales. This was a result of a large section of home users opting to buy
products from Bhubaneswar. However, in this FY since the month of May the market
has been recovering fast. “The market here is recovering at a pace of around six
percent on a MoM basis with software sales and retail being the persistent
performers. Owing to the fact of large volume sales in the healthcare industry,
we are steadily recovering from stagnation,” said Satyajit Mallick of Lotus
Communication.
Another factor that needs to be noticed is the fact that major players in
Bhubaneswar have their branch offices in the city with ND's representatives in
the area. There is no dedicated warehouse of any ND in Cuttack and the supplies
come in from the state capital, sales representatives and area managers.
Market name: Cuttack Market location: Orissa (26 km from the state capital) Size of market: Rs 1.5 crore monthly approx. Surrounding markets: Bhubneshwar, Puri, Jeypore, Berhampore Number of dealers: 94 Prominent dealers: Expro Computers, Computer Professional, Aditya Impex & Technologies Association: Cuttack IT Association (CITA), ITAO (based in Bhubneshwar) Business vertical: Government, hospital and healthcare, education, home users, enterprise Business trend: The market is on the recovery mode from its stagnation in sales, however, the rate is quite low compared to other upcountry regions in the East |
“Cuttack as a city is dependent on the state capital as the supplies are
routed from here. The SMB sector is practically not contributing to its growth.
Owing to direct purchases or from the channels in Bhubaneswar, the healthcare
vertical is very strong in this city. As I see it, Cuttack will have to depend
on the state capital for its business,” said D Ratho of Bhubaneswar based Cyber
Software and Services.
The sub-distribution space is quite strong in the area because of the class-C
extension cities near Cuttack. However, it is the government which is keeping up
the tempo in the market.
“The Orissa Police, the state High Court, Land Revenue Department under the
municipality and the Government colleges account for the bulk of consumers. This
year in Q2, the government has spent about Rs 6 crore in Cuttack and the channel
community was able to reap the benefits,” said Manoj Mahapatro of Expro
Computers.
The government, according to the leading dealers in the area contributes to
more than 30 percent of the yearly business with a projected contribution of Rs
35 crore in this FY. Apart from the government space, the corporate sector is
also strong here and opts for large-scale purchase which pushes up the market
growth. “The market is growing at a very slow rate and is expected to rocket
high to about 25 percent growth by the end of this FY,” Mahapatra added.
The dealers in the area seem to be satisfied with the present market scenario
and the options in the city. “We don't have any major problems in the area.
Vendor service centers are
within the reach in Bhubaneswar and no major ethical
trading issues plague the area,” he concluded. Government spending in the city
is likely to increase by atleast 30 percent, owing primarily to the Sarva Siksha
Abhyan and the BDO projects. These projects are expected to come up by the end
of Q3. Cuttack is a market that has the potential to emerge as a preferred IT
retail center.