What is the scope of an IT company in Bihar?

Information Technology has brought a sea change in the economic and social scenario of most of the States in India, but Bihar was left behind in the whole race, probably because of political reasons. IT Sector is yet to make a big incarnation in the state, despite repeated assurances of support from State Govt. None of the major IT Companies of India have Development Centers in the State, but at least 5 of top 10 IT Companies have setup Offices in Patna in order to grab domestic projects.

In my opinion, the lack of SEZ or STPI in Bihar is the main reason why none of the IT Companies have setup their Development Centers in the State. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar is well known for his stand against Special Economic Zones (SEZ).

Another Reason why there is no major IT company in Bihar can be best explained by the following Story.

There was a company willing to extend its business to a remote village. This company manufactured footwears. In order to forecast market response it deployed two of its skilled marketing professionals in the village to carry out a market survey and give a report on the acceptability of footwear products in the village. Both these professionals were sent in different time slots and none of them knew that the other professional is also doing survey. When they produced their survey report, it looked like this:

• Professional 1: “None of the villagers wear footwear and walk bare-footed. There is zero scope of selling footwears in this village. We need to look for a target market segment that uses footwears”.
• Professional 2: “None of the villagers wear footwear and walk bare-footed. There is 100% scope of selling footwears in this village. We do not have our competitors here, we will get the first mover advantage in this area. We will educate people about advantages of wearing footwear, we will spread awareness and will start up a new arena and cultural shift for the villagers”.

The Indian IT Scenario is much like Professional 1.  Companies thrive because of the huge exchange Rate of Rupee-Dollar and Cheap Labor in India leading to massive outsourcing. Indian IT Companies seldom try to create a market of its own.