Will Thane Surpass Mumbai?

Situated on the outskirts of Mumbai, Thane city is famous for its lakes and temples. Previously known as Shreesthank, Thane is the second fasted developing city after Mumbai. Though it is a part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Thane has established its distinct identity in terms of industrial growth and infrastructural development. Along with the development of other industries, the IT hardware industry has also shown considerable growth in Thane in recent years. The recent scrapping of Local Body Tax (LBT) has further escalated the growth of the IT hardware and SI business making Thane one of the fasted growing city in the state.

Historical and Cultural Significance

Thane city is a part of Thane district, which is divided into three parts known as coastal zone, hilly track and urban zone. It is also known as the city of lakes and temples. The most famous is the Masunda Lake, also known as Talao Pali. On the lakefront stands the Gadkari Rangayatan, a drama theatre which is a very popular hub for entertainment.

The Kopineshwar Temple constructed by Chimaji Appa in 1750 AD is the oldest temple in the entire district of Thane. Thane was the terminus for the first ever passenger train in India. On 16 April 1853, the passenger train service was inaugurated between Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) and Thane. Thane can be termed as the city of art lovers.

The city is always buzzing with various cultural and social events. Gadkari Rangayatan is a prime destination of Marathi films and dramas. Apart from that Thane is a central location of regional politics.

IT hardware growth

 IT business has marked a steady and constant growth in Thane as compared to surrounding markets like Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. The abolishment of LBT has given a big relief to hundreds of resellers and SIs in Thane and the channel is expecting to translate the benefit of tax into business profits.

Vishwas Daphale, owner of Perfect Data Product says, “Abolishment of LBT is a big relief for IT resellers in Thane. Thane comes under the non Octroi zone and that is an additional advantage for us. These factors will definitely make the vendors to look at Thane as a prospective market.”

Daphale, however, says that the vendors should follow the uniform pricing policy to avoid disparity in prices in Mumbai and Thane. He says that resellers in Thane should get the benefit of Octroi.

The government of Maharashtra in its recent IT policy has declared several policy initiatives to boost the IT growth in the entire Thane region. The authorities have proposed the Wagale Estate industrial area to be developed into IT zone. The move expected to facilitate the growth of software industry.

Ulhas Kulkarni, owner of IT Mart says, “Though the growth of software segment in Thane is not fascinating, but with the IT zones coming in, it will attract software vendors too to look for employment opportunities in Thane.”

Daphale says that the IT policy should give more exposure to hardware business and small players should get a fair chance to participate in the government projects. He also points out that since customers prefer local buying, vendors should support local channel partners to grow.

 The way ahead

Thane has huge potentials to grow and it requires a push from the vendors as well as the government. Being one of the prominent education hubs, Thane has ample talent, it only required to move in a right direction.

Thane at a Glance...

Number of Resellers/SIs : 250-300 (Approx)

Key Verticals: Education, Tourism, BFSI

Key Brands: Lenovo, HP, Dell, Acer, Quick Heal, McAfee, Kaspersky, Net Protector, NetGear, D-Link, Cisco

IT Association: Computer and Media Dealers Association (CMDA) -Thane

Interview 1

Vishwas Daphale, Owner, Perfect Data Product

Considering the current IT business scenario in Thane, how do you analyze the growth of IT hardware market in Thane? 

 Vishwas Daphale: Considering the current market scenario, the growth is not very exciting, but it is constant and steady. The average business is constant and it is growing at its pace. Thane is the second biggest market after Mumbai and all major IT vendors are present here.

 How has been the impact of E Commerce on the channel business?

 Vishwas Daphale: The E Commerce business has impacted nearly 30 percent channel business in Thane. The sale has certainly gone southward, however, the channel business is slowing slow signs of recovery in the recent months.