February end in India, the media is
always abuzz with the impact of the Union Budget-what would become
costlier, and what would come cheaper (the latter more in hope as
inflation normally takes care of that and ensures the price graphs
for everything move north). This year the cricket World Cup hype and
hoopla has surely taken away some of the sheen from the Budget, but
that still did not stop the media from analyzing threadbare the gains
and losses for each sector. It has not been different for IT too.
However, amidst all the hullabaloo round Pranab's Budget, what often
tends to get missed out that two days before that another budget
presentation is also done-the Railway Budget.
While it is true to a large extent
(what many critics are shouting hoarse) that Mamata's Budget,
particularly this year, was with an eye to capture the Writers
Building in Kolkata, it would be immature to deride or ignore several
good aspects of the Railway Budget. In fact, there have been several
announcements that are not just positively beneficial for the IT
industry, but can act as catalysts for growth, for everyone including
partners. Therefore while the partners are busy arguing the merits
and demerits of PC component price rise, it might make some sense for
them to focus on how some of Mamata's announcements can bolster their
business.
First, a look at some of the Rail
Budget highlights that could have an impact on IT. Immediately on the
anvil is a new portal for e-ticketing to be launched shortly-as
well as a pan India multi-purpose smart card 'Go India'. The latter
is to be a single window purchase of long distance, suburban, or
metro tickets through booking counters, vending machines and the
Internet. Many of our solution providers as well as partners who
offer Web-based solutions could jump into the queue for this
project-with Railways looking at actively cutting down on costs,
the smaller solution providers could come with a natural advantage
over their MNC counterparts.
But where partners could really come in
earnest is into the e-procurement system that Railways is planning to
launch to improve transparency-unlike other Government departments,
this could be a more level playing field as Railways, working on a
shoestring budget, would actively pursue cost arbitrage while
choosing partners. All India Security Help line on a single number
set up could be the lucrative business opportunity for partners
interested in doing a bit of domestic BPO work. And any project for
Railways would always ensure necessary scale, that could help in
partners earning better profits especially where their margins in
traditional businesses have shrunk significantly. There could be
other opportunities for partners to jump into the railway bandwagon
too-Web access will be allowed to Kolkata Rajdhani on pilot basis,
while there can be AMC work for a Center of Excellence in Software at
Darjeeling proposed under the aegis of CRIS, real time train
information system 'SIMRAN' developed in association with IIT Kanpur.
The other technology areas include a
GPS-based 'Fog Safe' device to be deployed, a project with IIT
Chennai on prototype manufacture of ultrasonic systems; a
collaborative study with IIT Mumbai on rail corrosion, anti-collision
devices to be commissioned in three Railway zones including Southern,
South Central and South Western soon with provision to have them in
eight out of 17 zones. While these apparently might not attract
partners, you never know especially at a time when many of them are
looking at newer avenues beyond IT. The Railways Budget might help
Mamata slay her Left nemesis in Bengal, but a serious look at it
could help many partners bolster their businesses.