With over 3 lakh employees, the IT, IT Enabled Services (ITES) & Business Process Outsourcing/Management (BPO/BPM) ‘industry’ in Gurgaon has the capability and potential to help transform the City into a truly global 'IT Plus' hub – which can compete with the best in the world. Apart from the above direct employment, the almost 500 companies in this industry, in the City, have also helped create almost 10 lakhs additional jobs and business opportunities - which are greatly contributing to the growth engine of the City as well as the state of Haryana. About 75 per cent of the industry employees are young, and women constitute a healthy 31 per cent of the workforce; almost 20% of the industry employees of the country are based in Gurgaon; and nearly 8 per cent of Haryana’s GDP is contributed by Gurgaon. NASSCOM Regional Council, Haryana, which has been working with the State government as well as civil society in Gurgaon, now wants to proactively up the ante. They are aware that most aspiring (business) ‘destinations’ across the globe are reinventing themselves. Nitin Seth, who chairs the NASSCOM Haryana chapter, asserts that the time has come for this ‘IT Plus’ (IT, ITES, BPO, BPM) industry to play a bigger role in transforming Gurgaon, which has emerged as one of the largest IT hubs across the world. Most importantly, Seth believes that a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship needs to be nurtured in Gurgaon, because India has entered into the mature phase of business development in the IT and allied sectors. “We are no more only a cost-driven destination. We have good quality talent, which is well experienced, and if we can create an ecosystem that supports innovation, then Gurgaon could be on a very strong wicket,” says Seth. Another core goal is the development of local engineering talent, which would help in better and more consistent availability and cost of trained manpower going forward. Seth says that they cannot continue to be over-dependent on talent from outside. Regarding the City, Seth says that while Gurgaon has ‘delivered’, and also shows great promise, there are serious challenges that it faces – including both a high cost of living and of conducting business, an acute shortage of public transport, citizens feeling unsafe and a poor civic infrastructure. Specific to IT, the Policy is not a facilitator. The re-invention of Gurgaon is also necessary because many other cities in India (let alone other Asian countries) have become strong competitors, as the respective State governments have recognised that IT and allied sector companies can provide large-scale employment as well as generate additional business opportunities. This industry is quite mobile, and the ‘business formula’ can be replicated without much difficulty. The NASSCOM Haryana chapter in particular believes that if the State and the local Administration does not respond to the challenge, then the City might lose its dominant position in the IT Plus sector. The key people at NASSCOM believe that Gurgaon today needs the positive involvement of the political leadership and a bureaucracy that understands the needs of the industry and the City, and is ready to work for the development and execution of a common vision. Seth says that the industry leaders are acutely conscious of their role as citizens, and the industry is ready to play a key partnership role with the government – in terms of volunteering its expertise, time and resources, and is ready to engage its employees as necessary. NASSCOM Haryana also wants to work with the State government to get the IT policy revised. It believes that the Policy is more real estate oriented, rather than focusing on real infrastructure, office space and IT enablers. The industry is also betting big on Gurgaon because it has a very large base here, which makes it easier to collaborate and take collective actions. Gurgaon is unique in its ‘profile’ too: it is a relatively young city, migrants comprise a large part of the population, and many of them (especially in the corporate, including IT Plus, world) have a global exposure. The profile makes it easier for industry to engage with citizens and to act together on common issues (Raahgiri and the need for Non-Motorised Transport being a small, topical example). In fact even the Administration was accommodative, and participative.
After a year long exercise the industry body (NASSCOM) has identified key areas where action is required for the transformation of Gurgaon, with innovation driving both the business and the City. Take the example of public transport. It is totally unreliable and inadequate. As a result, the majority of the companies have to run their own cab fleet service or subsidise commuting. This is leading to an increased cost of operations, congestion on the roads, and health and safety issues. At a more basic business level, an empirical study has revealed that the cost of doing business in Gurgaon is 10-15% higher than even some metros and 20-25% higher than non-metros in India. A high real estate cost also contributes towards making Gurgaon non-competitive. To make matters worse, the City has one of the highest levels of air pollution in the world, with diesel generators and vehicles fuelling it 24x7. The virtual non-stop usage of generators also adds fuel to the cost of operations. As regards manpower, the limited supply of local employable talent has forced companies to import talent from other parts of NCR & India. This further adds to the cost. If all this is not enough of a challenge, the women in the workforce of the IT Plus industry feel quite unsafe in the City. To address these challenges, the NASSCOM Regional Council has developed a vision, which broadly addresses three objectives:
ν of making Gurgaon a great city to live and work in;
ν of turning Gurgaon into a hub of innovation and entrepreneurship;
ν of developing an ecosystem to help Gurgaon become a nursery for world-class talent.
To work towards these objectives, it proposes value addition and participation by industry in Infrastructure development, Academia tie-ups, Policy recommendations and Community building. Seth says that the aim is to develop Gurgaon as the most preferred destination for the IT Plus industry – ‘bigger & better than Silicon Valley’.
What can make Gurgaon a great city to live and work in?
a. Active Commuting: Build an eco-system that promotes and supports sustainable use of public transport and non-motorised means like cycling and walking. Needless to say, a sustainable eco-system would need key elements like road safety, and easy access to metro, bus and auto stations. There would be extensive use of technology. Companies and RWAs would be encouraged to take the initiative in and around their areas.
b. Making Gurgaon a great place for women, by providing a welcoming environment, including safety and security, and creating enablers for women to perform at their full potential and becoming leaders in local companies and communities.
c. Water: Immediate and appropriate steps to conserve water through measures like rain harvesting and water recycling. In addition ensuring the provision of storm water drains, which would prevent the roads from disintegrating during the monsoon.
d. Inclusive Development, by ensuring that the fruits of Gurgaon's success reach all sections of society. This could be done through the creation and implementation of a master plan to help develop the City in a sustainable manner, provide options for low income housing, and ensure proper facilities for the education and healthcare of the under-privileged, access to Government schemes for the migrant working class and fair working conditions and employment terms for all.
How can we turn Gurgaon into a hub of innovation and entrepreneurship?
Nitin Seth, CEO of Fidelity India, says that Gurgaon has reached a stage where the IT industry can develop and support innovation and entrepreneurship, although the spirit and culture of startups is lacking here. Right now only 21 startups have been founded and recognised in Gurgaon. To ramp up this number, the Gurgaon IT industry is planning to give a massive push to the ‘10,000 Startup’ initiative, which has been launched across the nation by NASSCOM. The Haryana chapter will focus on developing product-based companies that focus on innovation and intellectual property creation, rather than just trying to replicate success stories (most of which have passed their ‘sell by’ date). Seth says that they will try to work with the government to set up an ‘incubator’, where startups can get mentored, and also get physical infrastructure to design and develop prototypes. “There are large number of big companies in Gurgaon, and if these startups can cater to their needs and resolve their problems, they could get a ready made market, which will also help them to later scale up in products or geography,” says Seth. He adds that we might not see a Facebook come up here, but would definitely see a Flipkart.
How do we develop an ecosystem to help Gurgaon become a nursery for world-class talent?
This key issue of ‘Skill Gap’ is what the IT industry wants to urgently address. It is impacting the employability of Gurgaon/Haryana graduates. Seth suggests that there is a need for a collaborative approach between the key stakeholders, i.e. the government, industry and academia. They need to together invest in world-class intermediary and higher education institutions, and upgrade the infrastructure, curriculum and faculty at the existing colleges. “We are most willing to adopt private colleges in the State and mentor the students there. We will help them improve their skill level and knowledge base, as each member of our chapter will mentor a college in Haryana. Working with the private colleges could be more productive,” feels Seth.
Key Initiatives
NASSCOM Haryana has proactively taken some actions towards realising the Gurgaon vision. “Active Commuting has been our area of focus for the past 18 months, and some steps have been taken in other vision areas as well,” says Seth. The focus has been on sensitisation and demand creation. The initiatives include signature campaigns (like ‘CEOs walk to work’), creation of the ‘Walk-on’ anthem music video with rock group Euphoria, hoardings, Active Commuting workshops, CEOs Conclave (to sensitise and brainstorm), and CEOs assisting at pedestrian crossings and giving the message of road safety. The IT industry has also interacted with the State government and the local Administration on infrastructure improvement. A pilot project with Haryana Roadways to start A/C buses for last mile connectivity, and joint programs with Rapid Metro & DLF, were initiated. IT companies – like NTT Data, E Value Serve, Sapient, IGT, Hero BPO - are encouraging a shift from the usage of cabs towards public transport. Within NASSCOM Haryana, industry leaders are working on different projects: for example, Manas Fuloria and Prabhat Agarwal are working on Active Commuting, and Rajat Tandon is working on the ‘10,000 Startups’ project.
Read More...