Guwahati’s IT Scenario Comes of Age

Located amidst the picturesque banks of the colossal Brahmaputra river, and the postcard pretty Shillong plateau, the landscape of Guwahati is in fact the most important city in the northeast. It is referred to as the gateway to the six other sister states of the North Eastern region. Historically known as Pragjyotishpur (“Prag", "Jyotish" and "Pur" the city of eastern light or for that matter 'city of eastern astrology”) as appearing in the epic Mahabharata, Guwahati stands as the commercial capital of the northeastern state of Assam. Besides being the haven of the one-horned rhinoceros, the crop-cutting festival Bihu and the sacred Kamakhya Temple the city in its modern context serves as a resource center for everything that is Technology being home to institutions as the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati.

Rated as being among the swiftly growing cities the nation has under its belt, Guwahati is inarguably the only IT hub in the region. Apart from the fact that no new trend has caught up with city’s daily life, the partner fraternity however claim, that the market has recovered from the slump of recession and slowdown.

Industries in Guwahati, the story so far

The Trend that has been fast catching up with the city, as far as products and brands are concerned happens to be the space of solutions and the sub space of Design your own project, the modern day consumer at Guwahati swears by what may be called as value additions to the deal being made that is to say one to one selling is passé. The ruling government at the centre considers Guwahati to be a significant commercial hub with the IT sector taken into account and the Digital India campaign making waves like never before.

The Real Estate Scene in Guwahati

If statistics are anything to go by, the real estate pace is going at a very slow pace as the present Infrastructures stand at 120 Feet by 120 Feet as compared to the earlier 12000 Square feet and the current scenario has constructions that are 1/4^th of former infrastructures with 600 to 700 Square feet being the Construction trend presently. There is Micro Utilisation of the space and the pockets of the land where these infrastructures stand. This very micro utilisation has plummeted the cost of building materials particularly Cement and the landscape around Greater Guwahati area near the airport is getting covered by real estate infrastructure owing to the hulking population and its ever growing demands for a residence at the city.

Education in Guwahati

Being home to educational centers or knowledge hubs as the prestigious Cotton College State University or the Gauhati university or for that matter Don Bosco Schools and Institutes, as far as the city’s education scene is anything to go by, the SEBA courses are getting revamped and streamlined on the pattern of that of the CBSE model. On the cusp of it all, the Education scenario in Guwahati is poised for a bright overhaul altogether.

Guwahati’s IT Saga

Being a Mecca to computer and IT dealers and consultants as Datamation Services, followed by BMG Informatics, Jain Infosys, Elite Computers and Communication, Infotech International, Computer Appliances, Balaji Computers the City’s IT Scenario is abuzz and thriving with activity. North East Computer Trader Association (NECTA), which was formed in 2003, is the only active computer association in Guwahati that caters to the issues and problems that surfaces the IT landscape of the seven states of this region.

Guwahati at an Eagle’s Eye view

• Number of resellers: 100+
• IT Association: North east Computer Traders Association ( NECTA)
• It market: The Whole of North Eastern landscape

Interview

Sajal Das, Proprietor, SoftDTA Guwahati

What are the major problems you face with your vendors?

“The phenomenon that is to be seen is that Vendors nowadays take the upper hand and dictate terms and choose comfort zones. The Distributors have yet another set of norms. We are sandwiched between source and end user."