Alwar–Not a Royal Show!

The picturesque city of Alwar is situated in the princely state of Rajasthan. Referred to as the 'gateway of Rajasthan', the city is situated 150 kms from Jaipur, the state' capital, and about 160 kms from Delhi. Blessed with a rich natural heritage, the traditional city is a delight to watch, with many enticing historical monuments, lakes, and heritage hotels spread across it.

The major tourist attractions of the city include the 'Bala Quila', an ancient fort, 'Moosi Maharani ki Chhatri', a beautiful red sandstone and white marble cenotaph of the rulers of Alwar, Vinay Vilas Mahal or the City Palace, Siliserh lake, Company Garden, Tomb of Fateh Jang, Sariska Wildlife Sanctuary, among many others. One can take a ride on the 'Fairy Queen' to roam about the city in a royal manner. The train is a 2 days/1 night tourist circuit from Delhi to Alwar, and is certified as the world's oldest working locomotive by the Guinness Book of World Records. Hope Circus, Bazaza Bazar, Sarafa Bazar, Malakhera Bazaar, and Kedalgang Bazaar are the best places to pick up ethnic handicrafts, trinkets, and souvenirs of the state.

Taking into consideration the Information Technology market of the city, it comes to the fore that the sector is going through a rough patch. Says Anup Chaudhry, CEO, Innovative Systems, "The market has actually been slow since December. The number of walk-ins have reduced. All expectations have nearly failed. We thought that the market will revive after the marriage season, but it did not happen. Even during the exams time, the situation stayed the same." While Chaudhry feels that the market is slow, Anil Gupta, CEO, Multi Computech says, "The sales have been moderate, but not exceptional."

The business verticals of the city comprise primarily of SOHO and education segments. The city does around Rs 40-50 crore of business annually.

Like most other cities, laptops lead the sales in this city as well. However, the sale of components does not lag behind. "Laptops from brands Lenovo, HP, Dell, and Samsung are in demand. But in the last 10 days, component business has increased," says Chaudhry. According to Gupta, Dell dominates the sale of laptops.

Alwar Computer Dealers' Association (ACDA) is the local association for the computer dealers in the city. Fair trade has been the agenda of the association ever since it was formed in the year 2009. It works for the well being of the channel and resolves payment issues between dealers and vendors and other related issues affecting the IT business in the region. "The association is quite responsive and also takes up initiatives. Recently, it conducted a blood donation camp, which was a huge success," said Gupta. Acceding to this, Chaudhry said, "The association is quite active and conducts a meeting every month. We have a 50 member strong association. Recently, it assisted in solving an issue wherein HP was involved. The dealer had asked HP to replace a defective printer worth Rs 65,000. When repeated requests to HP met deaf ears, our association wrote a mail to the Jaipur association, following which HP took an action and the case was sorted out."