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‘We Want Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar to be the Bangalore of BPO’

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DQI Bureau
New Update

As a state, Gujarat has been at the vanguard of commerce, industry and entrepreneurship. And one thought that the knowledge industry was different. The state did seem to miss the ‘first’ bus, but is now bootstrapping itself  to lead in the IT/BPO race. Leading this charge is the state’s IT secretary,

Rajesh Kishore. In an interview with Voice&Data, he provides details on a slew of e-governance projects, the state’s policies on the bpo front and its future ambitions. Excerpts:

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Rajesh

Kishore

How successful has the Gujarat government been in implementing its IT policy?



The state came out with its five-year IT policy in 1999 with three objectives in mind. The first was to increase the state’s share in software exports. Second, it was decided that e-governance projects would be launched so as to facilitate better administration. Third, though Gujarat offered low operating costs, it still did not compare to states like Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in terms of the talent pool. Thus, it was decided that the policy would also concentrate on building up a talent pool.

While the e-governance projects have been successful, we have had to revise the other two objectives. Also, we’re currently in the process of revamping the policy as it is due to end in 2004.

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In terms of expenditure, Rs 15.15 crore was used in 1999-2000 against a planned outlay of Rs 27 crore; Rs 67.78 crore against Rs 124 crore in 2000-01; Rs 31.93 crore against Rs 52.59 crore in 2001-02; and Rs 43.17 crore against Rs 44.71 crore in 2002-03. Our planned budget outlay for 2003-04 is Rs 43.61

crore.

What revisions were carried out and how did these impact the policy?



We have realized that since the talent pool in Gujarat is, by and large, perceived to be below the required standards, it is very unlikely that large IT service companies will set up shop here. Even today, Gujarat’s total software exports are Rs 150 crore per year, which is a miniscule 0.42% of the country’s total software exports. Therefore, we have shifted our focus to the IT-enabled services (ITeS) sector as we feel that Gujarat has enough manpower that is suitable for this industry. Also, we are now laying more stress on promotional activities. Another endeavor has been to convince foreign companies that Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar and Vadodara are safe places and that they should look at these cities to set up back-office operations.

What initiatives are being taken under the ITeS focus?



A number of globally well-known ITeS players are setting up shop in the state, especially in the Gandhinagar Infocity. These include US-based Global Respondez and iServe, both of which have already started operations. Others like Panamax Infotech, Web Infotech, Sigma Infosystems, Cybersoft Network, Source Results and Palak Infotech have purchased floor space in the Infocity. Two BPO players, Business Datasoft and Shubham Infotech, are also setting up operations, while Motif, an established player in Ahmedabad, is expanding operations both in Ahmedabad and

Vadodara.

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Can you list the e-governance projects that have been implemented?



The biggest e-governance project under the current policy is the Gujarat State Wide Area Network (GSWAN). Launched a couple of years back, GSWAN facilitates the transfer of voice, data and video, and connects 630 government offices in 25 districts across the state with the state headquarters in Gandhinagar. The project has been very successful, so much so that Karnataka has sought our assistance for a similar network, while a committee from Tamil Nadu has inspected our facilities.

Another large scheme is the rural Internet connectivity project that has been undertaken along with N-Log Communications using CoDECT technology. Under this scheme, which is still in the trial phase, 802.11b wireless connectivity will be provided to 1,000 villages in 15 talukas. The government is providing a subsidy of Rs 15 lakh to each village for the setting up of Internet kiosks. If the initial plan succeeds, the model will be replicated across the state to provide e-education and telemedicine facilities on the Internet.

Are there any other e-governance projects planned?



We are planning to build an e-databank that will connect all government data warehouses with a central repository. The databank will be subscription based for most services though there will be some that will be offered for free. In the first phase, 13 departments are going to be involved and this would take about four months. In the next phase, the remaining 12 departments are to be involved and the total time for implementing the project is likely to be two-and-a-half years. There is also a citizen card project, which will provide a multipurpose smart card to every person. The card will be applicable for most facilities like ration and election ID. The pilot project is being implemented in one taluka in Gandhinagar this year at a cost of Rs 3.5

crore.

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Have you also been promoting home-grown IT companies?



We’ve started the Gujarat IT VC fund with Rs 10 crore from the government and another Rs 10 crore from Sidbi. Initially, we provided funds worth Rs 5 crore to five companies that started operations from Gujarat. These are EQ, a smart card solution provider, SETU Cybertech, a GIS solution provider for city mapping, Anupam Infosystems, an engineering b2b solution provider, Net4nuts, an Internet application provider for alerts, and Icenet, Gujarat’s biggest ISP. This year we would be providing another Rs 8 crore to Rs 9 crore to ITeS companies in the CRM space.

Are you taking measures to remedy the dearth of talent in the state?



There is no dearth of skilled people for call centers. Even for the ICT sector, the Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of IT & Communication Technology, the Dharamsi Desai Institute of Technology in Nadiad and the Nirma University of Science and Technology are now deemed universities. These would produce about 1,000 ICT engineers each year. However, ITeS would remain the focus area and there we want Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar to become what Bangalore is for IT.

Rajneesh De (Voice&Data) in Mumbai

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