Citing data from a recently released Mckinsey report, Pramod Bhasin, NASSCOM chairman and Genpact CEO, said that India has an advantage over other nations due to its demographic profile and the entrepreneurial skills of its population. If the IT potential is tapped, said Bhasin, the Indian IT sector will be able to register at least 5 per cent more growth.

Lauding Chandigarh for its strong social infrastructure, educational facilities and safe environment, Bhasin said that it could be the next Singapore.

Lamenting that the IT industry is presently employing barely 8 to 10 per cent of graduates for lack of skills, Bhasin emphasised the need for an updated curriculum and industrial training to hone the entrepreneurial skills and talent of the young populace.

Others present on the occasion included Dr Omkar Rai, senior director, STPI; Sanjay Kumar, secretary, Information Technology and Finance, Chandigarh Administration; S S Channy, principal secretary, Industries and Commerce, Government of Punjab and S C Aggarwal, chief secretary, Government of Punjab.

Amit Chandra, partner, Barings India, suggested the need to reach out to the masses through mobile phone connectivity.

Karandeep Singh, managing director, Sapient India, said that the vision for the tricity should focus on wellness and bringing about lifestyle changes.

R K Verma, managing director, Punjab Infotech, highlighted various initiatives undertaken by the government to harness IT/ITES for e-Governance initiatives.

Earlier, speaking as part of the panel on “Building India as a Nation”, Rajdeep Sehrawat, vice-president, NASSCOM, said that the addressable market for domestic outsourcing in India is expected to expand four fold by 2020, from USD 26 billion to USD 100 billion, which will require the creation of a robust ecosystem supported by the government.

Tanmay Chakraborty, vice-president and head of Global Government Industry Group, TCS, emphasised on the need to implement e-Governance.

Sumit Bhattacharya, executive vice-president, HCL Technologies Ltd, said that the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) segment, which account for nearly 60 per cent of the national GDP, requires extensive implementation of IT.

The session ‘Aligning BPO opportunities in domestic market’ was moderated by Navin Agarwal, executive advisor, KPMG, and addressed by H K Arora, senior V-P and head of India Domestic Operations, Aegis BPO, and Rohit Kumar, deputy vice-president, Vertex India. The continuing growth momentum could help the Indian BPO sector touch USD 30 billion in export revenues by 2012.

In the session on Cloud Computing, Chandramouli C S, director, Zinnov Consulting, said that though IT is a buzz word today, it has great potential in helping the SMEs and scale up their operations.

Kulbhushan Chand of Oracle India and Natraj Akela of IBM spoke on growth opportunities for small enterprises.

The last session for the day— ‘Nasscom Emerge 50’ — was moderated by Anupama Arya, director, Mobera System, in which three entrepreneurs — Ms Veena Mahendru, CEO, SAVI Group, Ajay Sharma, CEO, Srishti Software, Santosh Chaubey, director general of AISEC LTS — shared their success stories.

THE AWARDS

Dr S S Channy, principal secretary, Industries and Commerce, Government of Punjab, distributed the STPI Software

Exports Awards for 2008-09 at the awards night held as part of the e-Revolution 2009. Dr Omkar Rai, director HQ, STPI, praised the IT/ITES companies from the region for excelling in the global market.

Highest Exports Award

Software Development: Infosys Technologies Ltd

IT Enabled services: Dell International Services (I) Private Limited under

SME: Visionaire Technologies Private Limited of Haryana, Mobera Systems Private Limited of Chandigarh and Smartdata Enterprise India Limited of Punjab

ITES, SME: Seamless Soft and Rece. Solutions Private Limited from Chandigarh, Webart Softech from Haryana and ADI Back Office from Punjab

Fast Trackers Award: ION Solutions Private Limited from Panjab, Xportsoft Technologies from Haryana.

Youngest Entrepreneur Award: Tushar and Shivam Goswami from Solutions Beyond Software

Women Entrepreneur Award: Anuja Lath, CEO, Pugmark Design Studio

Emerging Entrepreneur Award: Vinay Johar, director, Connoisseur Infotech Private Limited

New Entrant Award

Software Development: Care Fusion Development Private Limited from Chandigarh

ITES: Agilyst Consulting Private Limited from Punjab

Excellent SME Award (Software Development): Seasia Consulting from Chandigarh and IDS Infotech Limited, Punjab

For business expansion, Chandigarh on the radar of major IT companies

CHANDIGARH: In an attempt to tap the potential in Tier II cities, major IT companies like TCS and HCL Technologies are ready to expand operations in these cities. Chandigarh has been included in the category (Tier II) that has become the centre of renewed focus of major companies following the saturation of resources in Tier I cities like Delhi-NCR, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

“The company is looking at the expansion of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) operations to the Tier II category that includes six cities at present. Chandigarh is one of these,” said Sumit Bhattacharya, executive vice-president, HCL Technologies BPO.

“Almost all IT companies are targeting the Tier II and Tier III cities. Chandigarh, with its demographic structure, infrastructure and environment, offers great potential and scope for expansion,” said NASSCOM chairman Pamaod Bhasin.

Tanmoy Chakrabarty, vice-president, Tata Consultancy Services, New Delhi, shared similar views.

“TCS is not looking at any further expansion in Tier I cities. The focus of the company is only on Tier II cities, including Chandigarh and Mohali,” said Chakrabarty, while adding that the expansion will help generate employment for 25,000 youths during the current fiscal year.

“For moving to the next level, the Chandigarh Administration needs to improve the available infrastructure like roads, rail and air connectivity. It needs to benchmark the city with the best Tier II cities in the world,” added Chakrabarty.