Tailwind for IT sector as US firm forays into state

   Saturday, October 6, 2012

KOLKATA: The state’s all-out attempt to woo investors and become one of the top three IT spots in the country by 2020 has paid off well with US-based Corelynx opening its unit here and chip-designing company Mentor Graphics planning to make its foray soon.

Experts feel the entry of these firms will catapult the state back on the national map of hardware engineering. Enterprise software development company Corelynx’s foray into the state comes close on the heels of the entry of Mobidough, another US-based company, in the state. Mobidough, a mobile enterprise application platform provider, employs around 200-250 people in the state at present.

On the other hand, Nasdaq-listed Mentor Graphics’ office in Kolkata will be its fourth in the country. It already has offices in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Noida. Officials of the company, which specializes in designing chips, have approached the state government for a 2,000-sq ft space to accommodate around 10-15 people to start with. Chip-designing refers to building an integrated circuit to achieve an application, which can be a microprocessor, a router or even a cellphone.

“The company has specifically said that they want space in a government building,” a source said. The state government has been giving a lot of emphasis on building electronic hardware industry in the state. The Information & Communication Technology and Incentive Scheme Policy 2012, which came into place after nine years, has both hardware and software policies embedded in it.

The policy renamed the state’s IT department as the Information Technology and Electronics Department to recognize the importance of the electronic system design and manufacturing sector. It is also looking at increasing Bengal’s share in production of electronic good in India to 15% in terms of value by 2020.

So far, very few chip-designing companies have expressed their interest in setting up units in Bengal. Though these companies do not need either huge space or massive manpower, output of these firms has been of very high value. It is expected that if more such companies come to this state, it will give IT export from this region a huge boost. At present, Bengal accounts for a meager 2.5% of total IT exports from the country.

“There were only two-three small-scale chip-designing firms in Bengal. Chip-designing is a high-valued job,” a source told TOI. Nasscomregional manager (east) Suparno Moitra said global electronics industry is one of the fastest growing sector in the world and demand in the Indian marketis expected to touch $400 billion by 2020 and it would be out of place to say that the electronic import bill would exceed that of oil by 2020.

Being the world’s second-most populated country, coupled with robust growth, India will remain one of the largest consumer of electronics products globally, he said. “The industry is poised to ride the wave of domestic demands for electronics products. Developing core areas of design and applications development will lead the Indian electronics and manufacturing industry towards greater innovation,” he added.Manufacturing has been recognized as the main engine for economic growth and an ambitious target of ICT and electronics hardware manufacturing to around 25% by 2025 has been set by the National Manufacturing Policy.

Bengal is trying hard to fulfill its envisioned position of one among top three IT states in the country by 2020. To realize this dream it is going all out to attract various companies and recently this endeavour had paid off very well. US-based Corelynx has opened its unit in the state and chip designing company Mentor Graphics is planning to take space in any government unit soon.

So far, there were very few chip designing companies in the state. Although these companies do not need huge space, neither it requires massive manpower but the work done in these units are of very high value. It is expected that if more such companies come to this state, it will help to export more from this region. Now, Bengal accounts for 2.5% of total IT exports from the country. India recorded $296.23 billion in IT exports in 2009-10.

“There were only two-three small-scale chip designing companies in Bengal. They are also good. Chip designing is a high-valued job,” a source told TOI.

Although there had been talks about having IT hardware companies in the state for long but that sector was miniscule so far. These companies will help place Bengal in the national map of chip designing. Chip designing is building an integrated circuit to achieve an application. The application could be microprocessor, router or a cellphone.

Nasdaq-listed Mentor Graphics has office in India in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Noda. It is planning to open its fourth office in Kolkata. Its officials have approached the state government and it is looking for a 2,000 square feet space to accommodate around 10-15 people in the outset.

“They have specifically said they want a space in government building,” a source said. The state government had been giving a lot of emphasis on building electronic hardware industry in the state along with software. The Information & Communication Technology and Incentive Scheme Policy 2012 that came into place after nine years have both hardware and software policies embedded in it.

Corelynx is an enterprise software development company and Mobidough, another US based company, that came to the state one-and-a-half year back provides mobile enterprise application platform employing around 200-250 people here.

The policy said that the state’s IT department will be renamed as the Information Technology and Electronics Department, recognizing the importance of the Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) sector. It is also looking at increasing West Bengal’s share in production of electronic good in India to 15% by value by 2020.

Nasscom regional manager (east) Suparno Moitra said global electronics industry is one of the fasteset growing in the world and demand in the Indian market is expected to touch $400 billion by 2020 and it would be out of place to say that the electronic import bill would exceed that of oil by 2020.

Being the world’s second most populated country, coupled with robust growth India will remain one of the largest consumer of electronics products globally, he said.

Moitra added: “The industry is poised to ride the wave of domestic demands for electronics products. Developing core areas of design and applications development will only help catapult the Indian electronics and manufacturing industry towards greater innovation.”Manufacturing has been recognized as the main engine for economic growth and an ambitious target of ICT and electronics hardware manufacturing to around 25% by 2025 has been set by the National manufacturing Policy.