India’s Tech Sector – A Blast from the Past

...eyes on the road, and your hands upon the wheel...

When I got into the driver’s seat DQ was already established as the most popular tech-business publication in the sub-continent. The ‘followers’ (readership) were probably more than that of St. Greta of the Carbon Emissions Cathedral. I’m talking early 1990s. Moreover, unlike WhatsApp University grads that constitute the bulk of ‘followers’ in this day and age, our readers comprised entrepreneurs, visionaries, CXOs, policy makers, techies – people who were also ‘influencers’ as well as the architects of India’s tech industry as we know it today.

This was the time when Nagarajan Vittal was appointed Secretary to the Department of Electronics. An IAS from the Gujarat cadre he moved from the DoT to the DoE.

N Vittal and DQ enjoyed a warm and friendly relationship through his tenure and even when he assumed the role of CVC subsequently. Meetings and exchange of ideas had become a regular thing. Regarded as an honest-to-god man of action since his early days as an IAS officer, N Vittal provided the much needed impetus towards liberalization of the Indian IT & Telecom sector. At the same time, it was also felt by the industry that given the Government’s lack of understanding of the tech business, it would be best if the sector remained largely unregulated for the initial few years. Anyhow all this led to the Government finally realizing the enormous software export potential India possessed. An ambitious target of US$400 million looked achievable. NASSCOM which till then had been lurking in some basement in Lodhi Road upped and set up shop at the Ashoka Hotel. The rest as you know is history.

Realising that NASSCOM would have to go through a massive transition DQ got right in the thick of things. The next few months would take up a considerable amount of DQ man-hours in meetings and lobbying with the prominent industry players, Government departments, the media, and other associations. A change of guard at NASSCOM was imminent, so several names were thrown up. A subtle media campaign was initiated by DQ, supported by some of our competitors. Finally, Dewang Mehta’s candidature began to take root. A man who would go on to take the SW exports business from strength to strength, and reserve a permanent place in India’s SW hall of Fame.

One could say that DQ was in a way responsible for convergence of ideas between the industry, the Government, and the user community. Speaking of convergence, I remember N Vittal’s observation – ‘convergence was like Draupadi’s seamless supply of saree, one doesn’t know where one begins and the other ends.’ Vittal was known for his witty remarks and sense of humor. Now governments on the other hand aren’t known to have any. And that was the reason why a large section of the industry wanted minimal regulations at that point, though the idea of having a separate ministry for IT had its own attraction. It would certainly give tech a certain status.

The 1990s was certainly an exciting decade for the industry, particularly the year 1992, as it marked not only the return of IBM in a JV with the Tatas, but also HCL’s foray in the US via HCL North America. Arjun Malhotra was the man behind it all. He set up HCL’s foreign venture and came back to India to head HCL-HP, the company’s new collaboration.

Policy making is a rather delicate matter especially in a nascent sector and can have ghastly outcomes if not handled properly. For instance, do you want to attract foreign investments and multinationals or protect and promote the local players? The later could lead to en masse exits ala IBM and discourage multinationals in the medium term. The industry would always be divided over such issues, among other matters like trade tariffs, import policies, corporate taxes, and so on. One view was to leave the industry alone for some time, and let market forces decide; the other, to have one’s own ministry. Meanwhile the industry grew in leaps and bounds at respectable double-digit CAGR through the nineties till it became too large to go unnoticed. Finally, the IT Ministry came into being in 1999.

DQ too had its share of changes in terms of content, style, business strategy, look-n-feel, size etc, but the one constant was to play a key role in bringing the supply-side, the medium, large and enterprise users, and the government on a platform where they could interact and collaborate. This was not only via events, seminars, conferences, but also social get-togethers. I don’t recall our competitors doing as many soirees. DQ ended being the official media for most tech events both national and international.

The 1990s was certainly an exciting decade for the industry, particularly the year 1992, as it marked not only the return of IBM in a JV with the Tatas, but also HCL’s foray in the US via HCL North America. Arjun Malhotra was the man behind it all. He set up HCL’s foreign venture and came back to India to head HCL-HP, the company’s new collaboration.

1992 wasn’t over yet, the year saw Apple’s India entry following its decision to finally partner with Digital Equipment (India) Ltd., (DEIL) and use their Bangalore facility to manufacture the LC/2s in India. Apple however had been selling Macs here for close to a decade. In fact, the Osho Ashram near Pune was one of their significantly large installed-bases in Asia.

The year had more in store. For a man whose party’s de rigueur stand against automation, 1992 saw Jyoti Basu, the then Chief Minister of West Bengal, inaugurating the JV between WEBEL Telematics and Siemens AG at Saltlec Electronic Complex.

This momentum had just begun and would get stronger down the line with enterprises like Silicon Graphics, Olivetti, Nixdorf and others lining up to set manufacturing operations in our shores. Moore’s Law continued to be vindicated year after year, with chip densities doubling, computers shrinking, Indian ventures in software, hardware, telecom mushrooming, and DQ continuing with its questions on the Government’s role in promoting process technologies, R&D, design and architecture, duties and tax holidays and so on.

The energy was addictive, and the pace was electrifying. No other industry could be compared to this. The mantra was ‘work hard, play harder’. DQ, like the industry would party late into the night and be back at work the next morning. I do remember a certain early morning flight from Bombay packed with industry who’s who, after a Bruce Springsteen concert the previous night, en route to Delhi for a three-day event. That was the spirit!

By Pravir Ganguly

(Pravir started his career in finance and has since worked with different vertical segments; with different functional groups; in different geographies & cultures. Publishing, market research and business consulting are the hats worn over a span of over thirty years.)

maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in