Kya Surat Hai

Surat, also known as Silk City and Diamond City, is world famous for its
textile and diamond market.

Apart from these industries, IT business too is witnessing a major growth in
the region.

In last few years, the vendors, the distributors and the channels are
diverting their businesses to upcountry cities like Surat. They see good
opportunities here to expand their business.

According to Paresh B Babaria, CEO, Jupiter Automation, Surat is witnessing a
sale of 2,000 PCs per month and the market is growing by 15 to 20 percent every
month and 20 to 30 percent every year.

Talking about the opportunity Surat market has for international distributors
like Ingram Micro, Sanjay Sharma, Branch Manager, Ingram Micro India said, “We
are finding good opportunities in terms of market penetration. Along with the
growth, we are getting good margin too from this region. Being near to Mumbai is
another advantage the city has. When we consider all these things, Surat is a
good business proposition.”

Surat

FACT FILE Market growing at 20-30% YoY Proximity to Mumbai advantageous High per capita income

Due to diamond and textile market, the per capita income of Surat is quite
high. “Due to high per capita income, all the major principles are investing in
Surat in terms of manpower and installing branches as well as service centers,”
added Sharma.

Besides, Surat also has a few enterprise customers who are contributing
directly to the growth of IT market in the region.

Taking about global recession that is affecting IT in a big way, Babaria
said, “There is a big opportunity awaiting in Surat, though in the recession
period it's a bit difficult. Once the market is back to normal, big opportunity
is foreseen in upcountry. Vendors should look at that market opportunity
available in Surat.”

Paresh Mathukia, Director, Creative Infotech Solutions is confident about the
way Surat market is growing. “We are expanding our business and focusing on the
new enterprise customers,” explained Mathukia. According to him, SMB is one of
the areas, which is growing in Surat.

Seeing this huge opportunity, Ingram Micro has opened a warehouse in Surat.
“The warehouse was set-up in Ahmedabad earlier but because of the distance,
products used to take more time to reach Surat market. The Surat warehouse not
only saves time but also transportation cost. If we were not based out of Surat
our business would have not grown as much,” concluded Sharma.

Archana Swamy

archnas@cybermedia.co.in