Still in IT Backwaters

Kerala today boasts of 100 percent literacy and some of the best e-Gov
success stories. But, it needs more to make it a favourite IT destination

Destination of choice for IT investments is indeed a misnomer these days for
some of the state governments of our country. The Kerala govern-ment, one of the
destination hard sellers, is pitching itself as 'Gods own eState.' That
might well become a hyper-bole if rhetoric continues to mask the ground
realities. Sure, the Technopark at Trivandrum is world class and the Infopark at
Kochi has 100% booking. But, apart from these, the state has not much to
showcase on the IT front. The other big-bang initiative 'Dubai Internet City'
is yet to emerge from its ambitious 'paper to reality stage.'

Given the ground realities, the two key investment destinations out of Kerala-Trivandrum
and Kochi-need to go the extra mile to attract big and new investments.
Meanwhile, the media-savvy IT Secretary of Kerala, Aruna Sundararajan, who
aggre-ssively positioned Kerala as an IT destination, is believed to have gone
on a long leave. According to rumour mills, Sundararajan has left the IT Mission
she was heading. An official clarification from the Kerala government is
expe-cted soon.

What ails Kerala?

The chances are that if a perception audit is to be taken on the question:
"What is your top of the mind recall on Kerala?" the answer would be-
ayurveda or scenic beach resorts. Any mention of IT is most unlikely. This is
indeed sad for a state that pioneered the IT park concept way back in the early
1990s with Tech-nopark. But while other southern states hogged the limelight,
Kerala groped in the dark with strikes and trade union demonstrations and a
society mired in communism.

So, economic liberalization had little takers here when IT was booming in the
rest of the world in the 1990's. That Kerala, which has been riding on the
media blitz as a 100% literate state, was dubbed as 'India's Living Hell'
in one of its cover stories last year by the Outlook magazine, is no surprise.
The glaring realities hitherto masked by hype came to fore with that report.
While the report did not explore the IT potential out of Kerala, it, on the
other hand, exposed the ground realities. Says SR Nair, managing director, Team
Frontline, "Kerala needs an attitudinal change and has to be more inviting
to outsiders. Also, the entire city of Kochi is choking with dust, garbage, and
sewage everywhere."

While most IT industry heads complain about the slow progress made in terms
of augmenting the infrastru-cture, a sense of affinity to the place makes some
of them base their operations from Kerala. Quips N Jehangir, managing director,
NeST Group, with its turnover all set to reach Rs 500 crore: "For well over
a decade we are operating out of Kerala. I strongly believe that Kerala has
immense potential and the kind of domain centric jobs we execute to clients
spread across globally, is testimony to the skilled manpower available
here." But Kerala needs many more companies like NeST, which, at present,
is an exception.

The typical, dismal, multi-cultural levels existing in the state maybe
another reason. According to an CEO of a leading company in Techno-park, which
set up operations way back in the mid-1990's: "When I came here from
Mumbai, Technopark impre-ssed me, and I went in for a huge facility. But, in the
first six months, some of best people I had, quit, saying they cannot gel with
the place and the environment." Bringing manpower from outside and making
them stay here has been a challenge for the com-pany. "So, now, we take
less of outside people and give preference to the locals."

Perception Issues

One of the biggest prob-lems confronting Kerala is the perception factor and
the mindset associated with it. For instance, Kochi is being pro-moted as a BPO
destination. But, currently, Kochi does not have the skilled manpower for BPOs.
Also, due to the accent problems, it is extremely difficult for voice-based
initia-tives to succeed in Kochi. So Kerala needs to evolve more skills on the
transaction side of the BPO space and that might work in the long run. Says KA
Joseph, managing director, Kerala Venture Fund, "I agree that in the past
we did have issues on the perception front, but in the last few years, things
have changed and we are making concerted efforts in promoting new IT compa-nies
in Kerala." But, the opti-mism exuded by a handful of technocrats is just
the tip of the iceberg. For instance, the hartal culture that results in
unscheduled holidays every month puts a fix on 24/7 kinds of operations.

Infrastructure Need

Kochi badly needs office spaces built by private players. Today, Infopark is
the only location that's touted as the happening place. Let's take a closer
look. The Infopark is spread across an area of 120,000 sq ft, currently being
occupied by 24 companies. Another 220,000 sq ft is getting ready and sources
claim that it is fully booked. According to Infopark sources, the entire new
building would house just six companies and it includes the biggest IT players
in the country and from outside. The biggest problem: shortage of space. Sources
also claim that the upcoming Infopark facility will house companies like DITRO
from Spain and ACS among others. While Infopark will improve Kochi's IT
potential, critics argue that the govern-ment should motivate private real
estate players to build more office spaces that will give investors more choice.
Moreover, the coming of Wipro or TCS, as branch offices, cannot be used as a
yardstick for economic competitiveness.

Destinations like Kochi need to re-invent themselves in a whole lot of
aspects. The city needs a facelift and efforts have to be taken to improve the
civic infrastructure with roads, shopping malls, and recreational facilities
among others. So if Kerala is serious about IT, it need to make a realistic
assessment of the ground realities, and plug in the key areas that will make it
a key contender to reckon with in the IT space.

Shrikanth G in
Kochi