Noida & Greater Noida: the North India BPO HUB
Loading ...NOIDA & Greater NOIDA: the North India BPO HUB
This was the flagship event of the NASSCOM Regional Council, chaired by Mr Harsh Lohit, Managing Director of Headstrong. When the Council was formed in December last year, the members expressed their views that Noida, being a leader location with respect to the IT-BPO industry in the country, there was a need to showcase its strength and make a strong representation to the government. The Council met several times after that and decided to hold this event in Noida on 8th April. We also worked closely with STPI, to obtain relevant data which was used for the presentation.
The evening in Park Plaza, saw a very encouraging attendance of about 120 professionals, represented by the corporate and academia mostly based out of Noida but also a few participants from Gurgaon and Delhi. Mr Som Mittal, president NASSCOM welcomed all the guests and delivered a very detailed talk on the future of the IT-BPO industry. He traced back the economic conditions in the past year or so and how all indicators were moving adversely to predictions made by erstwhile “gurus”, now proving to be futile. He talked about the uncertainty prevailing in the world today but also cautioned a “wait and watch” approach and to see how far the American Senate would actually react and implement the proposed protectionist measures. How much of it was actually populist in nature. He talked about his visits to the US and the detailed discussion that he engaged in with the policy makers and how by and large the American government was appreciative of India’s contribution to the global economy.
The next session was taken up by Mr Arjun Malhotra, Chairman of Headstrong as he addressed on View of the IT Industry: Customer’s perspective. Being operational in the region for many years now, he touched upon how the region has grown, some of the positives and also the way forward. His address was followed by Mr Harsh Lohit, who had painstakingly put together a presentation, along with the NASSCOM team, to make a case for Noida and how it was contributing significantly to the IT-BPO industry. Some of the notable observations were:
- Noida contributing 8.6 % of IT-BPO exports i.e. 3.5 BN USD out of 40.4 BN USD
- Fourth, in the list of preferred IT-BPO destinations in the country
- Contributes to 8.8 % of IT-BPO Direct Employment
- Total No. of companies operating was about 400, spread across IT Services, BPO, Engineering Services, Software Products / OPD, SMEs, large MNCs and most importantly having the potential to be the semiconductor design hub in the country.
He talked on the positives going for Noida like National Connectivity, Availability of Space, Telecom Network, Recreational facilities and also some of the areas where the UP Government’s intervention was required namely Power, Security & Hygiene and availability of hotels
Imperatives:
- Address key infrastructure challenges i.e., availability of power, security, hotels and water supply
- Encourage development of a large pool of qualified workforce along with domain expertise to offer quality high-end research and/or analytics expertise
- Create clusters of learning and innovation by ensuring integration between stake holders; Universities should form an integral part of the ecosystem to nurture talent and provide assistance to key research areas of importance to IT-BPO industry
- Continue to increase the visibility of NOIDA/Greater NOIDA as an IT – BPO destination in order to attract more investors. Provide visible and consistent political support for attracting anchor IT/ITES companies
- Ongoing infrastructural development to support growth in the sector, e.g. roads, hotels etc.
He ended on the Noida Regional Council and its charter for the year ahead and how the Special Interest Groups was the vehicle being adopted, to bring about this change.
The next session was a panel discussion on: Is Noida ready to be the Semi-conductor Design Hub of the country and the panellists were Mr Jaswinder Ahuja, Corporate Vice President, Cadence Design System, Dr Aloknath De, Director & Country Manager, ST Ericsson – India Design Centers, Mr Subind Kumar - Head, Network and Multimedia Business, Freescale Semiconductor and Mr Anupam Singh, Vice President, Conexant Systems
The discussion was very detailed, even considering the paucity of time and it revolved around:
- Each speaker giving a brief overview about their operations – when they started, What are the positives going for Noida, How they have grown in terms of business, employment etc.
- Addressed on how there is a distinct value proposition to be had vis-à-vis IT services companies. How the advent of technology has shaped growth and also the inherent challenges associated with a fast changing landscape.
- Since the panel was represented by only 4 companies, the group also made a representation of other major contributors to this space.
- Discussed on the future of the Semi Conductor space and how the downturn was affecting the industry
- Finally, the focus on availability of talent and how it takes about 2-3 years for a first rate engineer to be productive in this industry.
After felicitation of all the speakers, Mr Saugat Sen, Vice President Cadence delivered the vote of thanks and wrapped up the evenings proceedings. He also thanked the sponsors namely Headstrong, Sopra, Cadence, Nucleus, Steria & Infogain for supporting the event. And, finally the participants for being so enthusiastic which reflected verily in the Q & A session.
On behalf of NASSCOM we would like to convey our special thanks to all members of the NASSCOM Regional Council, Noida, for supporting this initiative and hope to take this maiden initiative to far greater heights in the coming years..
Serious work being done, the floor was thrown open for some fun and networking, which went on till the wee hours.
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If a company is considering new BPO projects, it must begin to develop a BPO strategy and make decisions soon. Companies must consider if BPO offers an opportunity for them to improve services without capital investment, offload noncore services or reduce operational costs.