Hemant Sonawala

Crystal ball gazer

If Hemant Sonawala had not decided to come back to India in 1962 after his
engineering in the US and a stint with Boeing, the 50 years of Indian IT history
today might have assumed a different contour. In 1966, even when he setup
Hinditron focusing on instrumentation and electronic engineering, he realized
the role computers would play in the future. Not surprising therefore that
Hinditron tied up with Digital to bring minicomputers to India in the 70s, when
it also started the country's first commercial CAD datacenter. Following IBM's
exit, Digital was the first MNC to come into India via a Hinditron JV;
subsequently in the 80s, Hinditron started local manufacturing, thanks to three
technology transfer JVs with Digital, Tektronix and Schiller AG. Also as CSI
president, Sonawala designed the DOEACC accredited program curricula.