Indian Technology Sector: Why Delhi-Chandigarh Corridor is better than South India!

There is a strike in Bangalore which shut off that technology hub of the country! The politicians cannot be trusted at all! Meanwhile, here is a city that wants more technology action – Chandigarh! So, its politicians have decided to extend the IT education in all its Government schools… which will be provided by some IT companies.

Personally, I believe that the foreign technology majors have got it wrong… Bangalore is the lousiest place to be the hub of anything international – its infrastructure sucks.. its airport sucks.. it has just a few good schools.. and has a lousy state Government! The only thing going for it is the weather! But given the pollution it is fast deteriorating! Delhi (NCR really) and the corridor between Delhi and Chandigarh, in my view should be the hub of the international services sector in India. Reason: Between Gurgaon, Delhi, Chandigarh, Noida, and Faridabad – that region has good infrastructure.. good connections.. ample land.. ample water… ample man power, and some of the best schools. Most of all, the corporate honchos will be close to the political bigwigs to influence them. And since Delhi is the capital and Chandigarh is a Union Territory, the political effects are mostly positive. The bad political moves generally do not affect these two cities.

Bangalore and the areas south of it will always face the water shortages and politics because of that as well as dirty state politics.

Even for the call centers – the Influence of the native language (called the Native Language Influence or NLI) is the highest in the southern India according to some call center executives. That is why the call centers in Chennai are so desperate for resources from north. This is a strong reason why call center concentration in North makes sense.

The highway between Delhi and Chandigarh, btw, is also one of the best in the country. With the very affluent Punjabi NRIs coming back in droves to be part of the local elections first hand instead of just pumping in money (some estimate to the tune of USD 22 million already!), the improvement in the infrastructure and education in the entire area of Punjab and nearby will be a strong growth factor!

Success, in India often breeds complacency and politicians make it worse! Its better to punish those who cannot understand business well by taking the money making growth opportunities out of their hands!