© Ravi
Visvesvaraya Prasad, August 2000. Reproduction strictly prohibited and
will be immediately prosecuted without any warning.
Published in The Hindustan Times, India on Friday, 04 August 2000, on the Edit Page Go to http://www.hindustantimes.com, Archives, issue of Friday, 04 August 2000, Click on Opinion, "Join the Dots" Original URL of publication is http://www.hindustantimes.com/nonfram/040800/detOPI01.htm |
||||||||||||||
India’s software, electronic commerce and telecommunications sectors are elated by several policy decisions announced by the prime minister at the conference of state information technology ministers on 15 July. They are gratified that in addition to IT ministers from sixteen states, as many as fourteen chief ministers thought it important enough to attend. Since one of the objectives of the conference was “to bridge the digital divide among states and take stock of the development of IT in different regions and the progress made by them in using IT to bring about socio-economic upliftment”, it would be worthwhile to rate states on parameters such as: ¨ Ability to attract investments by leading foreign and Indian companies. ¨ Availability of educated professionals. ¨ Infrastructure and Environment (datacom links, satellite and optical cable connectivity, uninterrupted and stable power, real estate rates, international airports, quality of life, etc.). ¨ Commitment of the political and bureaucratic leadership to electronic governance and software exports.
The successes of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have been well-documented and need not be repeated here. Their achievements are noteworthy in spite of their having started out with poorer telecom and electricity infrastructure than several other states and their not having international airports. Under S. M. Krishna, Karnataka has shaken off the complacency it fell into under J. H. Patel, and is implementing a state-wide broadband optical cable network. In the 1970s and 1980s, Delhi was the most promising city in South Asia, but it squandered its numerous advantages. It had the foremost educational institutions (Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi Institute of Technology, Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Indira Gandhi National Open University, etc.), the best telecom and electricity infrastructure in the nation, an international airport, and proximity to the central government for obtaining licenses. Although it was the birthplace of several pioneering companies, such as DCM, HCL, and NIIT, Delhi was hampered by being under the authority of multiple central and local government agencies. Moreover, the Madan Lal Khurana and Sahib Singh Verma regimes were apathetic towards IT. NOIDA and Gurgaon took advantage of Delhi’s favorable factors to attract multinational and Indian companies. However, under Sheila Dikshit, Delhi could attain its potential of becoming the premier IT centre in South Asia, both for software and IT-enabled exports as well as for e-governance and e-commerce. Mrs Dikshit announced that a “Right to Information” Bill would be introduced soon and that nine departments -- revenue, transport, sales tax, excise, education, health, social welfare, cooperatives, and labour -- would go on-line and be accessible to the public through touch-screen kiosks. She has established a new software technology park at Dwarka and personally invited several multinationals. By having persuaded Mahanagar Telephone Nigam and Videsh Sanchar Nigam to provide high-bandwidth circuits on demand, she is enabling Delhi to become a leader in IT-and-telecom-enabled services such as call centres, back office operations, data processing and medical transcription. Mrs Dikshit’s initiatives in partnership with Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Telecom Industries and Services Association, and Delhi Finance Corporation, have led to the rapid spread of cybercafés by providing easy finance and technical advice. She also introduced the practices of electronic money transfers, electronic tagging and bar coding by the Delhi government. But the whole process is too dependent on her continuance in power; a subsequent chief minister may not share her goals. In spite of her invitations to leading Indian and foreign corporations, the software technology park at Dwarka has yet to take off. Tamil Nadu squandered its early lead but has caught up rapidly in the last few years. Even in the 1950’s R. Venkataraman and C. Subramaniam exhorted its industrialists to enter knowledge-based industries; Venkataraman had invited Boeing to establish a software and computer-aided-design center as long ago as 1957. But Tamil Nadu’s politicians and bureaucrats were apathetic and its businessmen conservative. Since it concentrated on mainframes, it found it difficult to manage the transitions to personal computers, and subsequently to client-server and web-based platforms. Its software exports in 1995-96 were only Rs 37 crores. However, this situation has changed radically in the last few years due to some pro-business politicians and bureaucrats. Tamil Nadu has attracted multinationals like IBM, EDS, and Alcatel, and Indian leaders like Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Wipro and HCL, as a result of which its software exports zoomed to Rs 1,900 crores in 1999-2000. In 1998, the National Association of Software and Service Companies rated Chennai as the best location to start a software company, and “Business World” magazine in 1999 rated Tamil Nadu as having the largest number of highly qualified software professionals. The establishment of the TIDEL Information Technology Park and a thousand rural Internet Community Centers should make Tamil Nadu fulfill the prediction of Jeffrey Sachs of Harvard University that it will become India’s largest software exporting state with 20 % of India’s software exports. Maharashtra dissipated its numerous advantages and early lead due to political and bureaucratic apathy. Mumbai had several pioneering companies in the 1970s like Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Infotech, Datamatics, Patni, and Tandon, and numerous software and hardware companies were set up in Santa Cruz Electronics Export Processing Zone and Marol industrial estate. But high real estate prices and the poor quality of life drove software professionals away from Mumbai. Pune too failed to take advantage of its educational infrastructure and pleasant quality of life -- Infosys was founded in Pune but later shifted to Bangalore. In the early 1980s, Pondicherry had attracted several electronics and hardware companies due to its educational levels and provision of financial and tax incentives. But its lethargy caused it to miss the software tide. West Bengal and Kerala failed to capitalize on their high educational levels. The label of communism, history of trade-unionism and lack of work ethics kept multinationals and entrepreneurs away. Calcutta’s poor infrastructure and quality of life caused the STP in Salt Lake City to perform far below its potential. E. K. Nayanar’s “Information Kerala” programme to computerize government functions at the panchayat level may turn out to be successful but Kerala is unlikely to become an IT power. Thiruvananthapuram’s STP has attracted only a few non-resident Malayalees. Chandigarh, Goa, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, and Daman & Diu also failed to utilize their high levels of education and have missed the software boat. However, their small size and high literacy levels may enable them to implement e-governance. Madhya Pradesh does not possess any factor favorable to software exports but Digvijay Singh’s efforts aided by a competent bureaucracy would enable it to implement e-governance successfully. His pioneering Gyandoot Project won the Stockholm Award for public service. He has also initiated innovative projects for commodity market information, electronic medical diagnosis and legal services. However, as in Delhi, the process may get derailed if a subsequent chief minister does not share the same commitment to IT. Apart from some low-end data processing, the Indore and Bhopal STPs have failed to attract any major international or Indian companies. Haryana’s only success has been Gurgaon, where several leading multinationals, attracted by Delhi’s advantages, set up development centers. Due to its uneducated politicians and apathetic bureaucracy, Haryana is unlikely to make further progress. Gujarat has not been able to make the transition from manufacturing to IT. Its ethos of trading and smokestack industry caused it to devalue higher education. The electronics estate at Gandhinagar has been a total failure although it was one of the first in the nation. Non-resident Gujaratis established software companies in the southern states rather than at home. The Gujarat government’s aim of accounting for 10 percent of India’s IT exports needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. However, the broadband telecom network being implemented by Reliance may lure some software developers. In spite of the Punjab government’s plans to invest Rs 100 crores in IT in the next three years, its idée fixe of light industry and farming and the lack of higher education will hinder Punjab from becoming an IT power. The electronics estate at Mohali has performed far below expectations in spite of housing Semiconductor Complex and Punjab Wireless. Due to Sukh Ram’s largesse, Himachal Pradesh has an excellent telecom infrastructure. However, the state’s numerous disadvantages would preclude it from achieving any success, in spite of P. K. Dhumal’s pronouncements. Uttar Pradesh’s only success has been at NOIDA, where several multinational and Indian corporations have been operating for two decades. However, they were attracted more by Delhi’s advantages than anything to do with UP. In spite of having one of the best computer science and engineering faculties in the world at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur, the STP at Kanpur has been a miserable failure. Orissa’s foray into IT ground to a halt when Subhash Pani, the guiding spirit of Orissa Computer Applications Center, got transferred to Delhi. The STPs at Bhubaneshwar and Cuttack have been failures from day one. It still remains to be seen if Naveen Patnaik will take any interest in IT. Rajasthan has also failed to attract any software companies, even with the financial incentives provided by the Alwar industrial estate. In spite of high educational levels and proficiency in English, the lack of infrastructure will doom all the North-Eastern states to failure in IT. The prime minister’s warning at the conference about the consequences of the growing digital divide between computer-literates and cyber have-nots should be taken seriously since the differences between states will grow at an exponential rate. Lalloo Prasad Yadav’s hostility to computers, voiced in an interview to Zee TV where he accused IT of causing unemployment, will ensure that Bihar will remain mired in poverty while Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Delhi pull far ahead. By
Ravi Visvesvaraya Prasad Published in The Hindustan Times, India on Friday, 04 August 2000, on the Edit Page Go to http://www.hindustantimes.com, Archives, issue of Friday, 04 August 2000, Click on Opinion, "Join the Dots" Original URL of publication is http://www.hindustantimes.com/nonfram/040800/detOPI01.htm |
||||||||||||||
© Ravi Visvesvaraya Prasad, August 2000 Reproduction of any portion of the above article in any manner, including paraphrases, rewording, translations, abridgements, excerpts, etc., in any medium, in any jurisdiction, in any language, for any purpose, without the prior written permission of both Ravi Visvesvaraya Prasad and The Hindustan Times, is strictly prohibited, and will be vigorously prosecuted in criminal and civil courts without any prior warning. We continuously monitor the contents of the Web as well as all downloading and copying operations from our web-site for violations of our copyrights. |
||||||||||||||
Ravi Visvesvaraya
Prasad & Associates |
We
represent multinational vendors of telecom and datacom equipment and services
in India.
We
have marketed telecom and datacom equipment and services to Indian basic
telecom operators, GSM cellular mobile operators, Internet service providers,
VSAT service providers, POCSAG paging operators, software exporters, etc.
We specialize in sales to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Videsh Sanchar Nigam (VSNL), Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL), large organizational customers, and private service providers. We obtain all regulatory permissions and licenses from central, state and local governments, obtain type approvals and interface approvals from the Telecom Engineering Centre, perform public and media relations, and introduce our clients to influential government officials, politicians, and print and television journalists. We perform customer requirements analysis, project feasibility analysis, return-on-investment analysis, risk analysis, financial closure, identification of joint venture partners, due diligence, contract negotiations and documentation. We have provided such advisory services to equipment suppliers, basic telecom operators, GSM cellular mobile operators, Internet service providers, VSAT service providers, POCSAG paging operators, radio trunking operators, etc. We market GSM cellular handsets of most major international brands at the best rates in North India.
|
|