Just when Gujarat was recouping after the January 26, 2001 earthquake, communal riots struck the state. The cash-rich state of India has not been able to attract sufficient investments in terms of Information Technology (IT). The absence of an IT industry per se was so evident in the recent summit, Resurgent Gujarat, organized by the state government in Ahmedabad in February.

Gujarat has entered into a partnership with the United Kingdom. The aim of this joint exercise is simple—jack up the quantum of foreign funding

As you enter the venue on the second day of the buoyant meet you witness the entrance stage at the gate knocked down by high velocity winds, thereby choking the vehicular traffic at the main entrance gate. It fell as soon as the session on IT started. The government's efforts to bring in heavy weights like Azim Premji had failed and in the end, the summit was reduced to a local seminar.

As the head of Computer & Information department of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, B H Jajoo pointed out, the summit faulted in its basic configuration. "At other seminars, I saw the industry organizing the event and the government facilitating it. Here the government is organizing it and the industry is merely a sponsor of lunch or soft drinks," he remarked.

The Business Partnership Meet, with the UK as the partnering country, was aimed to attract investments to the state in various sectors. Gujarat watched in agony as a majority of the MNCs that entered the country after economic liberalization were hijacked by other states. States like Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have become the hub of IT business activities.

Even with business being in their genes and state being one of the most business friendly, Gujarat failed to attract these investors thereby incurring a heavy setback. All efforts by the government as well as the private participation to woo these investors by way of Info cities, Info towers and science cities have made no progress. Now as a last resort, this meet was organized combined with a large public relation (PR) exercise within potential investor circles. Pramod Mahajan, the union IT minister, who inaugurated the meet, however did not see this PR translating into investments. "IT needs PR, as in today’s world, the stress is on information," he maintained.

"The state lacks a champion, whom anyone can approach to get thier problem solved within hours if not minutes. The other states succeeded in trying to create an environment that is not merely friendly but hyperactive," said Jajoo. He said that the IT industry, basically a service oriented one, depends upon the intellectual capital rather than financial capital. "We need high quality research institutions. We have physical infrastructure but lack in intellectual ones," he added. He further said that the large number of unemployed youths have to become the major strength since they form the intellectual capital. "And this capital does not come from the RBI, stock exchange or trading houses. They come from educational institutions. We need to strengthen them," he added.

A huge PR exercise preceded the Business Partnership Meet. IT minister Mahajan endorsed the binge, saying: “IT needs PR. In today’s world, information comes first”

However, the government’s move to open colleges in computer application fields has failed to elicit enough response as the use of English as the medium came across as a major hindrance. Those who pass out from the existing ones also make their move towards other destinations. "I think there is something wrong somewhere. It is not very difficult to pluck out what went wrong. We should analyze ourselves and see where we lack," said Chirag Mehta, CEO and Managing Director of Icenet Communications, one of the leading Internet service providers in Gujarat. One of the speakers, P M Anvarthan, CEO of Rajkot based ACE Software Exports felt that the industry is relying too much on the government. "We should leave governance to the government and do business. It is not only impractical but pointless to look uo to the government each time," he pointed out. But with private participation also becoming obsolete, the government is in a corner. The GNFC Info tower built on plug-n-play basis primarily for those companies, which can directly barge in and start their business, has made no significant impact. There are also rumors that some portion of it may be rented out to run a commerce college.

The setting up of a Science city is another achievement for the government. In a sprawling 100 hectares of land and with a total estimated cost of 3.5 billion, the government’s move is to inculcate scientific literacy in an engaging manner and to bridge the gap between business, industry and community. But various non governmental organizations have pooh poohed the government’s move to go hi-tech when the primary education level is in shambles.

"With no importance given to the basic sector, the government has directly jumped into the bandwagon to become the 51st state of the US. We should understand that charity begins at home and there could be nothing better than watching rural children growing up with proper education even in the field of IT," said Raghuraj Mistry, one of the participants. But on the positive front, some of the companies have managed to sign pacts of partnerships during the meet, though these are of little signficance.

Binu Alex/CNS in Ahmedabad