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Why Even North Eastern States Pushing Kerala Behind The Scene in IT/Biotech/Other Industries? |
Posted Date: 13 Oct 2007 Posted By:: Riva T Philip Member Level: Silver Member Rank: 0 Points: 1
Responses:
7
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It is a shame that even the geographically rugged Northern Eastern states pushing Kerala far behind in the race to establishing IT parks, Biotech Parks, and attracting FDIs/FIIs. The Stock Exchanges in Guwahati and Shillong are far larger in volume than Kochi.
There are more IT professions in Guwahati and Shillong thazn Kochi and Trivandrum.
Adding the icing to the cake, Central Govt already agreed to establish next IIM in Shillong, Meghalaya and next IIITs in Imphal, Itanagar, Gangtok, and Dimapur.
Many IT bigwigs like IBM, Dell, JP Morgan, Oracle, etc are interested in setting up their business units in smaller cities like Guwahati, Shillong, Dibrugarh, Silchar, Gangtok, Itanagar, Dimapur, Aizwal, Kohima, Imphal, Tezpur, and Tura.
The Chief ministers in these states - Mr. Tarun Gogoi (Assam), Mr. DD lapang (Meghalaya), Mr. Dorjee Khandu (Arunachal), Mr. Pavankumar Chamling (Sikkim), Mr. Okram Ibobi Singh (Manipur), Pu Zoramthanga (mizoram), and Neiphiu Rio (Nagaland). The only state lag behind attracting new investors is Left bastion Tripura.
Union Minister for North Eastern Affairs Mr. Manishankar Aiyer and Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Mr. PR. Kyndiah congratulated the North Eastern Chief Ministers for their high-value promotion of the states. They hope, South Eastern Asian Countries like Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, etc will invest in the region. Central and State Govternment is also planning to develop Express Highways in North Eastern region connecting all major cities. Adding to this Central Government is considering Siliguri-Hanoi express Highway and Guwahati-Singapore Express Highway. In addition to this Central Government is also planning to implement railheads to all North Eastern states.
Another sector which has a vast potential in North East is Tourism.
Shopping Malls are also coming into North Eastern India especially in cities like Guwahati, Shillong, Imphal, Dimapur, and Tezpur.
The Road and Bridge infrastructure of North Eastern states are far better than the roads in larger states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, and Kerala. Even little Tripura is ahead of these larger states, which is affected by the misgovernance.
Kerala's loss is North East's gain.
www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=292665
www.megassembly.gov.in/governors_address/2003.htm
www.chalo.net/links/itparks.htm
www.sikkim.nic.in/sisi/gazette.htm
www.manipur.nic.in/itmain.htm
www.smallindustryindia.com/policies/state/nagalan/nagaland.htm
www.sikkiminfo.net/
www.e-pao.net/epPageExtractor.asp?src=features.Why_Manipur_requires_IT-park_now.html..
Regards,
Rivaji
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Responses
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#2516 Author: Riva T Philip Member Level: Silver Member Rank: 0 Date: 13/Oct/2007 Rating:  Points: 1 |
<<<<<<<<<<
TCS sets sights on Guwahati for expansion
Sushanta Talukdar
Six-member team, led by Ramadurai, meets Assam Chief Minister
The delegation surveys two sites
TCS likely to spell out its plans soon
LOOKING NORTHEAST: S. Ramadorai (left), CEO and Managing Director, Tata Consultancy Services, shaking hands with Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister of State for Commerce, in Guwahati on Friday. Tarun Gogoi (centre), Assam Chief Minister, looks on.
GUWAHATI: A six-member team of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) officials on Friday made an exploratory visit here to assess the city’s potential for a possible expansion by the company. The delegation was led by TCS’s Chief Executive Officer S. Ramadurai.
Briefing reporters, Union Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh said that during the visit the delegation surveyed two sites — Palashbari, measuring about 140 acres, and a site near the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, measuring about 100 acres.
The Assam Government also made a presentation on the strength and potential of Guwahati as a major IT destination. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, State IT Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma and State Industry and Commerce Minister Pradyut Bordoloi were present.
Mr. Ramesh expressed hope that TCS would announce its Guwahati expansion in the next couple of weeks. He said that in the last six months he had been impressing upon TCS to look beyond Kolkata, that is, Guwahati and Shillong, which, he said, had all the potential to come up as major IT destinations. The Union Minister said the phenomenal IT revolution in the country had bypassed the Northeast and of the $32 billion exports in the IT sector, the share of the Northeast was only half a million dollar.
He said IT companies did not bother about the Northeast as they were more worried about the U.S. and other countries.
Mr. Ramesh said IT companies and other investors had a ‘mindset problem’ towards the security environment of the Northeast. He said the region was much safer than many parts of the country. “We are fighting against this mindset,” he added. The “mindset problem” also existed with Delhi and he admitted that the Central Government had failed to provide adequate infrastructure support to the Northeast.
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http://www.hindu.com/2007/09/01/stories/2007090157661800.htm
| | #2517 Author: Riva T Philip Member Level: Silver Member Rank: 0 Date: 13/Oct/2007 Rating: Points: 1 |
<<<<<<<<<<<<
Confirmed! Next IIM in the Shillong
The Express India article confirmed the erstwhile unconfirmed reports that the next IIM would be in the North East.
The confirmation comes as a real surprise since it is kind of unbelievable that such a remote place would be the best available place for an institution like the IIM, when globally established cities like Hyderabad, Pune, Chandigarh etc have neither an IIM nor an IIT.
The report says that Meghalaya beats Assam in getting the IIM, which gives a feeling that a lot of political pressure has went behind such a decision. One of the frequent arguments regarding the decision is to achieve ‘national balance’ and to ‘develop North East’, which, on the face of it, sounds downright ridiculous.
How would an IIM help achieving national balance? I would agree to the fact that an ideal institution would help in development of the area, but it’s always two ways. For example, we suspect that the main idea behind setting up an IIM at Indore is to help the SEZ near Indore, despite the fact that Indore is pretty badly connected to most parts of the country. This seems to be an okayish decision since we do interact a lot with the companies in the SEZ region. But then, there are a lot of things where big cities always score over.
Plus, it’s a known fact that students who come into IIMs are mostly from metros and big cities all over the country, and would love to settle in those kinds of places again. This again is the sentiment felt by corporates who feel students from IIMs are not 'made for rough and tough rural kind of work'.
The problems I see:
1) Inaccessibility: How would students commute to such a place? Not everyone could afford an air ticket all the time. What would students do in the free time? As far as my experience goes, the student profile would be more than happy to have the regular 'chillouts' such as parties, pubs, outings, cafes, good restaurants etc. What would students do to commute home during holidays? We get something like 7 days once every 4 months!
2) Industry: What would students do for interacting with the industry through projects, consultancy etc? And guest lectures?
3) Faculty: Why would top-notch faculty want to stay permanently in such places? They would definitely be more worried about the education of their kids, exposure etc. And pulling in visiting faculty is a very tough and costly affair.
4) Placements: I’ve heard that even age-old and established institutions frequently commute to nearby metros for interacting with corporates, particularly if air connectivity is an issue.
5) Foriegn exchange: All the IIMs have foriegn students coming from top notch international B-schools. For them again, places like Bangalore etc would definitely be more preferable due to their cosmopolitan nature.
Taking more practical examples, one of the foremost reasons why IIM-B is considered better my many when compared to IIM-C despite having started late is because of the software industry backing it has, and the fact that Bangalore is one of the most happening destinations in the world, let alone India. Considering this, such a decision would perpetually put an IIM behind some of the non-IIMs, which would be damage to the ‘IIM’ brand in itself.
I just hope that more thoughts went into the decision rather than just being political. This decision certainly beats me. I, for one, would certainly be looking for some rationale, apart from the news that Meghalaya won over Assam!
Update 1:
I think this post triggered a lot of sentiments, particularly folks from NE. Some of the opinions voiced are very valid, while some are just offshoots of sentimental attachment one has. I'd deliberate my opinions once more on this.
1) I never argued that Indore, Kozhikode etc are the best places for IIMs. I would NOT stand behind Indore just because I'm studying here. So please don't make it a comparison-based OR 'my daddy strongest' routine. I'd stick to my stand that Hyderabad or Chandigarh would be much better options than Shillong, or for that matter Indore or Kozhikode - if it's going to make anyone feel better.
The larger question is: Is Shillong the best place? Please do not compare it with any exisiting locations.
2) I would, however, take back part of point (1) of my initial post. I haven't been to Shillong, but from the voices here, it appears that Shillong seems to have a good dose of 'chillout options'. Taken! But I still am looking for answers for inaccessibility issues, which is a much bigger problem. Air travel isn't for everyone. My friends here from NE almost never go home due to the time it takes. When almost 75-80% of the batch comes from up-North, far West and deep-South, isn't inaccessibility a valid concern? Engineering is very, very different from a 2-year stint at B-school. And demographics are very different. A comparison with IIT Guhawati is not really applicable.
3) Industry: Discussing about Shillong, I don't see why people are harping on non-availability of industry in Kozhikode etc? My point was that industry interaction would be a problem in Shillong. I stick to it. We often run out of companies to survey upon for the projects, even here in Indore which has a rather flourishing SEZ.
4) Faculty and related stuff: It's still a concern. Maybe their kids would get good education; maybe the location would be heaven, or its nearest cousin. I can't help but bring up the usual complaint: Whenever a fest is organized, cities like Bangalore or Mumbai always get more share of participation from industry experts, corporate big-wigs etc. Wonder why? And faculty would ideally build up their profile working on consultancy projects with nearby companies. In simple terms - more interaction with nearby corporates, industry experts etc would be the only way faculty build their resume and value - not just by teaching for a long time.
5) Foreign exchange programs: I'm taking back my views on this. I agree that foreign students come here for the India experience. If readers feel that Shillong would provide that - fair enough, I'm ready to take it.
Last word: Maybe my impression of Shillong would change if I get to visit the place. But for now, given the information/perception I have, I stick to my views. I'd still like to hear from folks who know more.
A note to those anonymous folks: I would not respond to people who remain faceless.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
http://govar.blogspot.com/2005/09/confirmed-next-iim-in-shillong.html
| | #2518 Author: Riva T Philip Member Level: Silver Member Rank: 0 Date: 13/Oct/2007 Rating: Points: 1 |
<<<<<<<<<<
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"If there is a problem, there is a solution to it, too" is our company’s deep-rooted belief. We at Third Eye Infosys believe in "Simplifying Business through Solutions". Our experienced and highly talented team, in their initial years of learning, felt that there was an urgent need of a company in software service and solutions domain, which should analyze problems from clients' end, so that fusion of requirements (client's concern) and technologies (solution provider's concern) brings a win-win situation to all the parties concerned. Our strength in understanding clients' requirements and expectations coupled with our robust technical background has resulted in ours and our client’s success. With our extremely capable and technical skilled team, we bring forth substantial profits to our clients by delivering cost –effective quality solutions.
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ERP Solutions
Accounts and Inventory Management
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Hotel Management
School/College Management
Library Management
e-Business
IT Consulting
Project Management
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Client/Server and Legacy applications
Health Care and many more...
Our infrastructure consists of state-of-the-art equipment. Our infrastructure is 100% compatible with the development and testing of technology solutions, catering to offshore and outsourced needs of our clients.
We provide high quality, rapid-time-to-market solutions at affordable prices using industry proven frameworks like J2EE and .NET. Our company’s distinguishable services enable the clients to compete successfully in the global market. Furthermore, we seamlessly collaborate with our clients and involve them in all the development process to ensure transparency and security.
We have got all that a client looks for!
>>>>>>>>>>
http://www.thirdeyeinfosys.com/teinfosys/overview.asp
| | #2519 Author: Riva T Philip Member Level: Silver Member Rank: 0 Date: 13/Oct/2007 Rating: Points: 1 |
<<<<<<<<<<
Eastern Infosys
In the year 2000 Eastern Comnet opened its base at Guwahati as : "Eastern Infosys" to provide better support and service to its North East Customers.
>>>>>>>>>>
http://easternitgroup.com/files/infosys.htm
| | #2520 Author: Riva T Philip Member Level: Silver Member Rank: 0 Date: 13/Oct/2007 Rating: Points: 1 |
<<<<<<<<<<
Infosys assurance to Guwahati IIT
Special Correspondent
Guwahati: Infosys Technologies Chairman and Chief Mentor N.R. Narayana Murthy on Saturday promised to consider including the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, in the company's "Campus Connect" programme.
Under the programme, training is imparted to teachers in computer to upgrade their skills.
Mr. Murthy was speaking at a roundtable between the Assam Government and Information and Technology stakeholders organised by the Software Technology Parks of India here. He noted that the IIT had an excellent track record since its inception.
Recruitment
On Friday, Mr. Murthy said Infosys would recruit at least 30 graduates from the Assam Engineering College next year.
During an interaction with its students, he said conditions such as good air connectivity, five-star hotels, a robust bandwidth connecting Guwahati with the rest of the country and good English medium schools had to be met before Infosys could think of opening a development centre in the city.
Competition from China
On competition from China in IT, Mr. Murthy said it was at least 100 years ahead in terms of infrastructure, compared to India. India needed to work with great speed to catch up with the neighbour.
>>>>>>>>>>
http://www.hindu.com/2006/08/06/stories/2006080605161200.htm
| | #2521 Author: Riva T Philip Member Level: Silver Member Rank: 0 Date: 13/Oct/2007 Rating: Points: 1 |
<<<<<<<<<<
STP Units. . .
M/S SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY UNLIMITED
Contact Person
Mr. Dwijen Mahanta (Partner)
STP Location
Guwahati
Regd. office Address
R K Choudhury Road, Bharalumukh, Guwahati - 9
Phone
91–361-523632/512200.
E-mail
stu2000-ghy@yahoo.com
M/S COMPUTER EDUCATION & SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT CENTRE
Contact Person
Mr. Amitab Barooa (Partner)
STP Location
Guwahati
Regd. office Address
R G Baruah Road, Guwahati-24
Phone
91-361-451753/523743
M/S PHOENIX COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Contact Person
Mr Manikankan Barooa (Partner)
STP Location
Guwahati
Regd. office Address
Apurba Path, Rajgarh Link Road, Guwahati – 3
Phone
91-361-453281
E-mail
e-mail-pnxpcs@gw1.dot.net.in
M/S THIRD EYE INFOSYS (PVT) LTD,
Contact Person
Mr. Anuj Kr Paliwal (PSU)
STP Location
Guwahati
Regd. office Address
H B Road, Above Kalpataru, Panbazar, Guwahati-1
Phone
91-361-634620/63728
E-mail
info@THIRDEYEINDIA.COM
M/S SOFTDTA,
Contact Person
Mr. Sajal Das (Proprietor)
Regd. office Address
Silicon House, Pragati Nagar, Lalganesh, Guwahati - 34
Phone
91-361-475266, Mobile- 98640-60720
E-mail
softdta@hotmail.com
M/S INTEGRATED SYSTEMS & SERVICES
Contact Person
Mr. Utpal Kr Hazarika ( Proprietor)
Regd. office Address
U N B Road, Silpukhuri, Guwahati - 3
Phone
91-361-516416
E-mail
iss@gw1.dot.net.in
M/S. PREMIER CRYOGENICS LTD. (PSU)
Contact Person
Mr. Abhijit Barooah,
Regd. office Address
M D Road, Chandmari, Guwahati – 3
Phone
91-361-546820/546821
E-mail
assamair@gw1.dot.net.in
M/S. STARTEK ONLINES
Contact Person
Mr. Kanakjyoti Bhagawati (Partner)
Regd. office Address
Ice Factory Complex, R.G.Baruah Road, Guwahati -24
Phone
91 –0361-262353.
E-mail
startek@gw1.vsnl.net.in
M/S. MASSA OMNITECH (PVT.) LTD.
Contact Person
Mr. A.J. Baishya
Regd. office Address
M A Road, Rehabari, Guwahati – 9
Phone
91 – 0361-528715, 9864095131(M)
E-mail
mopl.massa@usa.net
M/s. Assam Electronics Development Corporation Ltd.
( a Govt. of Assam undertaking)
Contact Person
Managing Director
Regd. office Address
Industrial Estate, Bamunimaidam, Guwahati – 21
Phone
91 – 0361-550724, 551741
E-mail
M/S. N E TECH
Contact Person
Mr. A. Gohain (Partner)
Regd. office Address
G N B Road, Ambari, Guwahati – 1
Phone
91- 0361-547110/523333/632898
E-mail
bgohain@gw1.dot.net.in
M/S. UNITEK PROJECT & SYSTEMS
Contact Person
Mr. Ramendra Nath Baruah (Proprietor)
Regd. office Address
G N B Road, Silpukhuri, Guwahati - 3
Phone
91 – 0361-513665/520378.
E-mail
unitek@gw1.dot.net.in
M/S. SYSTEMS & APPLIANCES
Contact Person
Mrs. Manju Sarawgi (Partner)
Regd. office Address
Neelkanth Apartments, Rehabari, Guwahati – 8
Phone
91- 0361-548363.
E-mail
Naren@gw1.vsnl.net.in.
M/S. DIGITECH ASSOCIATES
Contact Person
Mr. Manoj Saraogi (Partner)
Regd. office Address
746, Golcha Marg, Sadar Bazar, Nagpur
Phone
0712-540621/0361-637384 Mobile: 98640-60777
E-mail
RPCDEL@hotmail.com.
M/S. A B SOFTWARES
Contact Person
Mr Anjan Barua (Proprietor)`
Regd. office Address
G S Road, D. Neog Path, Guwahati - 5
Phone
91 –0361-261921
E-mail
anjan-barua@usa.net
M/S. STANDARD IMPRESSIONS
Contact Person
Mr.Pranab Kr Nath (Proprietor)
Regd. office Address
A T Road, Kalipur, Guwahati - 9
Phone
91- 0361-633263
M/S. NEE INFOSYSTEMS
Contact Person
Mr Utpal Kr. Das (Partner),
Regd. office Address
G N B Road, Ambari, Guwahati - 1
Phone
91- 0361-630666/523383.
M/S. KIRAN ENTERPRISES
Contact Person
Mr. Anil Kr Patwa (Proprietor)
Regd. office Address
S R C B Road, Fancy Bazar, Guwahati - 1
Phone
91 - 0361-525904.
E-mail
anilpatwa@hotmail.com
M/S. POWER SOFT TECHNOLOGY
Contact Person
Mr, Kongkan Gogoi (Partner)
Regd. office Address
Rajgarh Road, Guwahati - 5
Phone
91 – 0361-268043
E-mail
PST@gw1.vsnl.in
M/S. CYBER SOLUTIONS
Contact Person
Mr. Sumit Dutta
Regd. office Address
I T Works, Ulubari, Guwahati - 7
Phone
91 - 0361-510900/510901.
E-mail
itworks@gw1.dot.net.in.
M/S. DECISION EXPORTS
Contact Person
Mr Ankush Bhuyan
Regd. office Address
M.C.Road, Chenikuthi, Guwahati - 3
Phone
91- 0361-543977.
M/S. KAUSHIK SOFTWARE (KSL)
Contact Person
Mr Arvin Kumar Tiwari,( Partner)
Regd. office Address
Near Hotel Luit, R S Road, Tezpur - 1
Phone
91- 03712-30872/23862
E-mail
KSL@gw1.dot.net.in
M/S. ZED END
Contact Person
Mr.M K Bhowmik (Proprietor)
Regd. office Address
Marlin Joints, Ulubari, Guwahati - 7
Phone
91- 0361-543590/541091.
E-mail
merlinj@gw1.dot.net.in
M/S. INFOSOFT TECHNOLOGY
Contact Person
Mr, Arun Prakash Choudhury (Proprietor)
Regd. office Address
Dispur, Assam Secretariat, Guwahati - 6
Phone
91 - 0361-262751/225458.
E-mail
INFOSOFT-TECH@MAIL.COM
M/S. ORANGE SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGIES
Contact Person
Chao Seng Khunlai(Partner)
Regd. office Address
Ajanta Path, Beltola, Guwahati - 28
Phone
91- 0361-260396/551179.
M/S. S. M. COMPUTER CONSULTANTS PVT. LTD.
Contact Person
Mr. Sanjib Barthakur
Regd. office Address
G N B Road, Silpukhuri, Guwahati - 3
E-mail
smcc@vedanti.com
M/S. GRACE INET SOLUTIONS PVT. LTD.
Contact Person
Mr. Nripendra Kr. Dutta (MD)
Regd. office Address
zap infotech, Zoo tiniali, Guwahati - 3
Phone
91- 0361-591155 / 455382 / 263486 MOBILE : 98640 – 23638
E-mail
ginsghy@satyam.net.in
M/S. CYNOSURE SOFTWARE LIMITED
Contact Person
Shri Ashiwini Chhawchharia, Director,
Regd. office Address
Jail Road, Guwahati - 1
Phone
91- 361-512395/512397/522784
Fax
91- 361-5222666
M/S. ABHINAVA INFOSYS SYSTEMS PVT. LTD.,
Contact Person
Shri Sundar Burgohian,Managing Director,
Regd. office Address
Beltola, Guwahati - 28
Phone
91- 361-222221 Mobile:98640-61859
M/S. BOHNIMAN SYSTEMS PVT. LTD.
Contact Person
Shri Abhijit Bhuyan,Director,
Regd. office Address
Rajgarh Road, Byelane-8, Guwahati - 781003
Phone
91- 361-547526/331176 Mobile: 98640-94723
E-mail
bohniman_systems@yahoo.com
M/S. DSS e-CONTACT LIMITED
Contact Person
Shri. O. P. Suri, Director,
Regd. office Address
NEDFi IT Park, Guwahati – 781 007
Phone
91- 361-529202-206, ND: 011-6859985-6961481, 6862149
Fax
011-6969076
E-mail
itnedfi@satyam.net.in
M/S. GALAXY INTERNATIONAL
Contact Person
Mr. Vivek Agarwal, Proprietor,
Regd. office Address
SRCB Road, Fancy Bazar, Guwahati – 781 001
Phone
91 - 361-541390/541386
Fax
91-361-541390
M/S. APPASA INFOTCH LTD.
Contact Person
Mr. Abhijit Baruah, Director,
Regd. office Address
Khanam Manzil, Kharghuli, Guwahati - 4
Phone
Fax
M/S. ACCRESCENT TELESERVICES PVT. LTD.,
Contact Person
Mr. S. N. Sarma,
Regd. office Address
UCO Bank Building, A. K.Azad Road, Rehabari, Guwahati
Phone
91-361-521966: Mobile: 98640 – 61172/62669
M/S. JAYBEE TECHNOLOGIES,
Contact Person
Mr. J. N. Buragohain,
Regd. office Address
Jaybee House, Sundarpur, RGB Road, Guwahati-5.
Phone
91-361-207053: Mobile: 98640 – 15353/20924
E-mail
jogen@jaybeegroup.com
Website
http://www.jaybeegroup.com
>>>>>>>>>>
http://www.guwahati.stpi.in
| | #2522 Author: Riva T Philip Member Level: Silver Member Rank: 0 Date: 13/Oct/2007 Rating: Points: 1 |
<<<<<<<<<<
Shillong wants to be North-East back-office hub, courts tech firms
Regina Anthony | New Delhi
Every month, call centres hire workers in the North-East by the dozen, train them and ship them to far-off locations such as Bangalore or Mumbai
In the short history of the Indian back-office services industry, the North-East region has had an important role to play. At least four of the seven states there have a high percentage of English-speaking population and, over the last few years, have become prime recruiting ground for the country’s small and large call centres alike. Every month, call centres hire workers in the North-East by the dozen, train them and ship them to far-off locations such as Bangalore or Mumbai.
One town in the hilly region is asking the question: In an age of robust telecom connectivity, why should our young travel over 3,000km to work in Bangalore?
Shillong, with its abundant and untapped English-speaking talent pool, is home to four universities, 15 colleges and more than 100 schools, and is chasing a dream of becoming the North-East’s information technology and back-office destination. Shillong is the capital of Meghalaya.
Ambitious? Perhaps, but not impossible for a city looking to increase the presence of outsourcing firms from the handful today.
At present, just one business process outsourcing (BPO) firm runs a mid-sized operation in Shillong: technology solutions and BPO firm S S NetCom Pvt. Ltd, which runs a round-the-clock online back office, mans operations such as customer support for telecom operator Aircel Cellular Ltd. The two-year-old company has around 400 people employed in its BPO division, 300 of who work for Aircel.
The government of Meghalaya, on its part, is doing all it can to attract the big technology and back-office firms to invest and set up base in Shillong. Early next month, the department of information technology will set up a so-called software technology park (STP), the equivalent of an industrial for software and BPO service firms that provides high bandwidth connectivity and infrastructure.
“Not too many IT/ITeS (information technology and information technology-enabled services) companies are operating in Shillong at present. The STP would be the curtain raiser. Once the 1.3 acre STP becomes operational next month, we are hoping the big players would also look at Shillong as a tier II destination comparable with the infrastructure of other cities and towns of similar profile and size,” said Donald P. Wahlang, information technology secretary to the government of Meghalaya. Besides, he said, Shillong offers talent at a lower cost compared with larger cities, and lower attrition.
The state government has received expressions of interest from around 15 companies, and space has been provided to seven companies, including Bangalore-based Chillibreeze Solutions Pvt. Ltd, to avail software and BPO services at the STP. Chillibreeze, a design and content firm that already has a team of around 50 content writers and designers at Shillong, is keen on expanding in the hill town.
>>>>>>>>>>
www.livemint.com/2007/09/06001050/Shillong-wants-to-be-NorthEas.html
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