Gandhinagar moving towards growth

The capital of the state of Gujarat, Gandhinagar is famous for its hospitality and tourism. With the industrialization and commercial growth, Gandhinagar is rapidly emerging as the fasted growing city after Ahmadabad and Surat. The Garima Park campus set up by Tata Consultancy Service (TCS) has boosted the growth of IT/ITeS industry in the city. The proposed Ahmadabad-Gandhinagar Metro corridor project and several other important infrastructure projects are expected to escalate the industrial and commercial growth of Gandhinagar making it the most preferred IT destination in the country.

Economical Development

Economy of the Gandhinagar district depends on services in the public sector, Electrical and Electronics, Textiles, Ceramics, Food Processing, and Office Stationery. Agriculture is also an imperative backbone of the economy of Gandhinagar District. The city is known for its small and medium scale industries. There are approximately eight thousand small scale industries (SSIs) in Gandhinagar, which provide employment to nearly 40,000 people.

Textiles, Wood products, Mineral based industries and Engineering are the major small scale industry sectors of Gandhinagar district. New sectors, such as agricultural machinery, industrial, instruments, leather and leather goods and infrastructure projects have witnessed good investments in recent years. Office stationery and household goods have also witnessed a major surge in investments. The Food Processing industry of the district is well developed because of the nearness to agricultural districts such as Ahmedabad, Mehsana, Sabarkantha, Kheda , Anand, etc.

Infrastructure development is another sector that has opened up new opportunities for investment and employment in Gandhinagar. With the recent rush in investments in the IT/ ITeS sector, Gandhinagar district is more and more shaping into an attractive destination for IT/ ITeS companies. The state government has rolled out several initiatives to create pro industry environment in Gandhinagar. The chief minister Anandiben Patel has recently announced the Ahmadabad-Gandhinagar Metro corridor which is expected to fuel the commercial growth in the district.

IT growth in Gandhinagar

The Garima Park campus of Tata Consultancy Service (TCS) has changed the face of IT growth of Gandhinagar. Developed on over 25.5 acres of land with a built-up area of 1.6 million sq. ft, TCS Garima Park is the latest addition to the company’s unique global network of software development and delivery centres. It features highly secure software development and delivery centres of multiple sizes to meet the needs of global clients. The IT park has facilitated the migration of skilled manpower in Gandhinagar and also encouraged the local youth to explore career opportunities in the IT field.

The growth of IT hardware business has been steady in Gandhinagar. The Security and Surveillance business are growing while there is a downward trend in the desktop market. According to resellers in Gandhinagar, the OLS factor has not much affected the business of the local dealers as the resellers are able to maintain customer loyalty.

The way ahead

Gandhinagar posses all the potentials to become a IT hub in the state of Gujarat. Favorable factors like industrialization and infrastructural development has given lot of prospects for the IT industry to grow and flourish. However, there is need for more efforts on part of the government and industrial giants to help the industry to prosper.

Gandhinagar at a Glance...

Number of Resellers: 80 (Approx.)

Key Verticals: Agriculture, IT/ITeS, Textiles, Food Processing

Prominent Brands: Lenovo, HP, Dell, Quick Heal, Kaspersky, D-Link

IT Association: Gandhinagar Computer Hardware Association (GCHA)

Interview 1

Uren Patel, Owner Vaj Infomedia

What are the key challenges of IT Resellers in Gandhinagar?

Uren Patel: The market is sluggish and not much exiting things are happening in the business. Certain products are showing continuous de growth such as desktops while certain product segments like smartphones and tablets are growing rapidly. The online factor is there, however, to my opinion it has not much impacted the ICT market in Gandhinagar. Indian consumers have a tendency to have a look and feel of the products. Therefore, they give preferences to the local resellers while buying electronics.

What are the growing segments in the ICT business in Gandhinagar?

Uren Patel: Security & Surveillance and Networking are the growing segments. Apart from that the laptop business is gaining momentum slowly. There is a growing demand for security not only in the corporate and government offices but even in small housing societies. So this segment will rapidly grow in next three years.