'Information tech should reach out to the masses'

Speakers at a seminar organised by Madras Management Association (MMA) recently stressed the need for information technology reaching out to the masses. The seminar, on the theme 'This India knows no boundaries', was held as part of the golden jubilee celebrations of MMA.

Experts opined that by bridging the digital divide, India could become a role model for the developed nations.

Speaking on the occasion, Ajai Chowdhry, chairman and chief executive officer, HCL Infosystems Ltd, said that though IT had played an important role in generating employment and helping industries to grow faster, it was yet to reach out to many other sectors in the country. He called for partnerships in hardware and software sectors.

Chowdhry pointed out that nations with high PC penetration had a better GDP. The hardware industry somehow was not able to achieve the domestic success achieved by telecom and television sectors, he added. IT in India was yet to address the base market. The domestic market was yet to be developed, enabled and addressed, he said, adding that only 10 per cent of the potential market had been explored by IT and ITES companies.

Collaborations between hardware and software companies were required for creating need-based value proposition for un-addressed markets. He also stressed the need for development of technologies for the poor.

Labour costs figured in a different context at the MMA session on the health care industry. R D Thulasiraj, executive director of Aravind Eye Care, said that Aravind Eye Care was able to carry out a cataract surgery for $ 20, which is less than 1 per cent of what the surgery would cost in the US.

Aravind's achievement is significant even in a global context. Thulasiraj pointed out that in mature markets, eye care made up about 10 per cent of total health care expenditure.

Answering a question during a session on retail, Raghu Pillai, managing director and CEO, Home Solutions Retail India, a subsidiary of Pantaloon, said that Pantaloon Retail expects to hire 1,400 management students in July, 2006.

The organised retailing in food and grocery had undergone a dramatic change, he said. The pay package for fresh graduates was expected to be about Rs 4 lakh, he added.

Arvind Singhal, managing director, KSA Technopark India Pvt, said that the retail industry expected to create five million direct jobs with an investment flow of about Rs 40,000 crore to Rs 50,000 crore in five to six years.

Mohapatra also said that women were largely employed in the retail sector. A new trend was also emerging among women as they could prefer part-time jobs for specific hours of work.

Both B V R Subbu, president of Hyundai Motor India, and N Sankar, chairman of Sanmar Group, said that the major challenge for the manufacturing sector would be in attracting and retaining the talent. While lauding the IT industry for creating a brand image for the country, they opined that IT and BPO sectors had sucked up the entire new talent force, leaving the manufacturing sector to manage with the existing force.

Manufacturing sector was not getting the right talent anymore. "We didn't pay as much attention as the IT industry did to attract talent," said Subbu.

While there would be a huge global market for the Indian companies to grasp, the three key differentiators, such as speed to market, global quality standards and cost efficiency, would help achieve global dominance, he added.