The North Star

True to its taglineSTPI is the software exporters window to the worldthe Software Technology Park of India has been the catalyst for growth of IT and ITeS industry in the country. Set up by the Ministry of Communications & Information Technology with an objective of encouraging, promoting and boosting of software exports from India, STPI has been spearheading the Indian IT revolution which is contributing significantly to Indias booming GDP growth.

Started in 1998 with barely four companies and a manpower of approximately fifty people, STPI-Mohali today has over 150 actively operating companies registered with it, and has given direct employment to around 1,000 people. The center caters to a vast region including the Union Territory of Chandigarh, Punjab and part of Haryana (Panchkula area) as well as Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.

A Humble Beginning

The Mohali unit had a modest start with `8 crore export in IT and ITeS domain. The center has subsequently grown over the years to cross `1,000 crore mark, an achievement in itself considering the fact that it caters to tier-2 and tier-3 cities in the northern India belt. It generated a revenue of `1,196 crore through exports in FY10 and is expected to cross `1,400 crore during the current fiscal. As per the current condition and huge potential this belt offers even for future, software exports are due to increase rapidly. Measuring the growth possibilities, we are hopeful that STPI-Mohali will be able to achieve the target to generate revenue of `5,000 crore by 2020, says Ajay P Shrivastava, joint director and center head, STPI-Mohali.

In order to serve its customers (the companies registered under it) better, STPI-Mohali has come up with an integrated and well- structured website that includes online service helpdesk. We have initiated this move to provide prompt support and troubleshooting to the companies registered with us. Upon logging in, the authorized user can submit online service requests covering both operational as well as technical issues, informs Shrivastava. The website also felicitates online chat options with service engineers.

However, the center has its own demons to deal with. Unavailability of relevant technical manpower is our biggest challenge, says Shrivastava. Despite the region housing several booming technical colleges that churn-out hundreds of tech graduates every year, the large chunk of local manpower lacks in-depth and specialized technical knowledge and expertise, he adds. Shrivastava also refers to higher attrition rate faced by the local companies which is another big challenge. We have to focus more towards imparting specialized knowledge to the aspiring IT professionals as well as enhancing work place values and ethics in them, in order to deal with these issues, says Shrivastava.

Getting Future Ready

Shrivastava is too optimistic about the future prospects in the region as he envisages Punjab-Chandigarh belt as the most promising ICT destination in the country. The way the local government is getting proactive towards building a conducive environment supporting growth of ICT industry in the region, I feel a lot of positive changes are awaiting to happen in the next five years, he remarks. According to him, the region is set to witness new development areas that will transform the belt towards next level of growth. Also with the availability of newer technologies in the market like web 2.0 and 3G mobile applications, combined with natural entrepreneurship of the local residents, fresh and innovative solutions and products will be developed creating new business opportunities both in domestic as well as global markets, says Shrivastava. In such a scenario, efforts like e-revolution will play a vital role towards making the Punjab-Chandigarh belt as the next IT hub of India, he concludes.

Piyali Guha
maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in