Surat: No Grievances

Surat, also known as the diamond capital of the world, is a commercial hub of the state of Gujrat. It is considered as one of the fastest growing cities of India. The city is also widely known as the textile capital of India. Besides this, it witnesses the presence of major IT giants and manufacturing units. From the past few years, Surat IT market has been seeing 20-30% y-o-y growth. The city has around 300 dealers and resellers, who deal in a wide rage of IT products and services.

According to Mahesh Patel of AVM Infosys, "The IT market is growing at a good pace, and we hope that it will be much more better in the coming years." Intel, Sony, BenQ, Asus and AMD are the vendors who are doing well in the region. Patel also pointed out that no brand has an edge over the other, all are at par. Laptops, LCD desktops, hard drives are the most sough-after products in the city. Surat also enjoys the prominent presence of various IT distributors, like Redington, Ingram Micro and Savex. Most of the business comes from the retail segment, while SMEs, corporate and education segments also drive major sale in the city. Most of the business in Surat IT market generally happens in the months of March and April, when new sessions start in colleges and schools. However, around festival season, people also like to buy IT products.

The city has Surat Information Technology Association (SITA) association, which is very active in making sure nothing untoward happens in the community. It also organizes IT expos and meeting for dealers and offers support services to them as and when required. Shedding light on dealer-vendor issues, Prakash Jain of Valsons Computers said, "We do not face any kind of problems while doing business with vendors, we are happy for our healthy relationships." Moreover, from time-to-time vendors keep introducing new schemes and products for dealers and customers in the city. "Recently, Asus introduced a 'foreign trip' scheme for dealers in Surat," said Patel. Apart from this, vendors also conduct meetings with dealers so that they can resolve the issues, if there is any and keep on introducing new policies.

Interview: Mahesh Patel, CEO, AVM Infosys

What are the top selling products and brands in the Surat IT market?

No products or brands have an edge over the other, all are at par. But if we want have an idea about the top selling products, then LCD desktops, laptops and hard drives are in good demand. Apart from the Intel, BenQ, Asus, Sony are well accepted brands in Surat

How many dealers are there in Surat and which business vertical do they serve?

There are around 300 dealers in the city and they serve education, retail, SME and corporate segments.

Is there any association at the local level? What are its activities?

Yes, we have Surat Information Technology Association (SITA), which is helpful for us and organizes various meetings, IT expos for dealers.