Punjab Fast Emerging as a Destination for BPO Industry: Secretary - IT, Punjab

"Punjab is fast emerging as the most favoured business and investment destination. The quantum rise in investment in the industry itself shows the confidence reposed by the industry in the growing economy of Punjab," stated Mr N S Kalsi, Secretary cum Director, Department of Information technology, Government of Punjab, while addressing the delegates, at the Interactive Session on "Opportunities for the BPO Industry," organized by CII-CCAI in Chandigarh today.

Sharing about the futuristic initiatives taken by the Punjab Government to bring in national and international IT / ITES companies to Punjab, Mr Kalsi said,"The Punjab Government has earmarked 1% of the yearly budget for promotion of IT / ITES. Venture capital fund with an initial investment of Rs 20 crore is set aside for IT / ITES Industry."

He further added that a statewide information network, internet & data connectivity at Mohali and at each district HQ, 100% foreign equity permitted, special package of fiscal incentives were some of the other initiatives that the State Government had offered to promote IT / ITES Industry in the State. Quoting from a survey report of the World Bank, he said, "It takes minimum time to start a new business in Punjab amongst all states in India." He called for tangible action by BPO industry to cash in on the opportunities available for investment in Punjab.

While highlighting the strengths of the new North Triad comprising Punjab, Haryana, Himanchal Pradesh, Chandigarh and J&K, Mr Kalsi shared that the visionary and responsive administration committed to free enterprise, quality infrastructure including industry parks and built up space, strong and vibrant economy, dynamic & productive people, institutional mechanism for fast track clearances, peaceful law and order environment and harmonious industrial relations were some of the key factors which made the new North Triad, an ideal destination for investment.

During the Interactive Session, Mr. S.C. Aggrawal, Principal Secretary-Industries and Commerce, Government of Punjab, reassured the industry of full support from the State to promote setting up of BPO projects. He added that the State was also committed to provide a conducive environment for the industry to grow.

CII, in association with CCAI and City & Guilds South Asia, has launched "eKalibre", a specialised training and certification programme for the BPO industry. Informing the delegates about eKalibre, Mr Ravi Pillai, Director, City & Guilds (South Asia) Pvt Ltd, said, "The programme equips the aspirants with generic as well as domain specific knowledge thereby providing enormous advantage to the industry in terms of a uniform scaled base to choose from, cost savings, predictability of success of campaigns & many more."

In a very insightful presentation on 'eSecure: Continuous & Proactive Security Assurance', Capt.Felix Mohan,CEO, Secure Synergy Private Limited, said, "The purpose of eSecure is to empower and facilitate call centres and BPO organisations to meet the challenges of data protection and privacy of customer information by providing 'continuous and proactive security assurance' at a very nominal and affordable cost".

Earlier, Mr.P.S.Sehgal, Member, CII Punjab State Council & Managing Director, Quarkcity (India) Pvt Ltd, in his welcome address, said," The ITES-BPO industry within India is growing at an unprecedented rate. Despite the growing global backlash against outsourcing of call centres and back office operations to India, the country has emerged as the global hub for corporate back-office services." He further added that it was imperative to devise suitable methods to sustain and enhance this growth for the long term and build a large pool of manpower for the BPO industry which should be benchmarked to international standards.

A host of CEOs from IT/ITES industry and IT experts participated in the deliberations, states the release.

CHANDIGARH
9 February 2006