IT sector came into existence much after India’s Independence, the IT-ITeS sector today has come a long way to become one of the strongest pillars of the foundation of 21^st century India. India is the leading sourcing destination across the world, accounting for approximately 55% market share of the US$ 200-250 billion global services sourcing business in 2019-20. Indian IT & BPM companies have set up over 1,000 global delivery centers in about 80 countries across the world. India has become the digital capabilities hub of the world with around 75% of global digital talent present in the country. Market Size

IT-BPM industry’s revenue was estimated at around US$ 191 billion in FY20, growing at 7.7% y-o-y. It is estimated to reach US$ 350 billion by 2025. The domestic revenue of the IT industry was estimated at US$ 44 billion and export revenue was estimated at US$ 147 billion in FY20.

Unfortunately, Bihar has failed miserably to take an advantage of India’s growth journey. Covid-19 provides another opportunity to Bihar to board the missed train of economic liberalisation and IT reforms.

Unfortunately, Bihar has failed miserably to take an advantage of this growth journey. Covid-19 provides another opportunity for Bihar to board the missed train of economic liberalization and IT reforms. India has vast untapped potential in Tier-2 and even Tier III locations which have the potential to be unlocked with the emergence of a distributed workforce which Covid19 has created. It’s high time for Bihar to capitalize its young demography, Bihar’s  Atma Nirbhata would be incomplete without IT Revolution.

Bihar has an edge over other states of the east in leveraging the Work From Home opportunity, thanks to its vast pool of engineers.  Given the intersection of talent, time (thanks to Covid19), and potential that Bihari has, it is best poised to capture the opportunities of Industry 4.0. Bihar can also help India unleash the next wave of operational efficiencies and cost savings and equip India to be at the forefront. The IT industry is destined for another leap of changes with accelerated growth spurred by the covid19 pandemic and is expected to witness the highest volume of new work in the next five years.

In this article I make a case to project Bihar “Texas of India”, though sounds unrealistic at present time but if supported by politics of the day, it is feasible.

Project Bihar “Texas of India”, though sounds unrealistic at present time but if supported by politics of the day, it is feasible.

The rise of Bangalore was because of the new computer and software policies in 1984 with which imports and exports of hardware and software in India were liberalized. This set the foundation for giants like Infosys and Wipro. Pune, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Gandhinagar are the major beneficiaries of the same.

The fruits of liberalization are yet to reach Bihar and hence Bihar is amongst the poorest state in India in terms of per capita GDP. The state’s growth has been eclipsed by decades of institutional decline, widespread lawlessness, and a society deeply divided by caste and religion. Given the mandate the BJP got in the 2020 elections, the time is right to make inroads to the sectors which remained untravelled hitherto.

To establish an IT industry the location needs

power supply

communications – including transport, telecommunications.

labour supply – including workers with the right skills.

grants and financial incentives – SEZ, IT parks, etc.

In the last 15 years of NDA’s rule, Bihar’s position has changed. The state, once been infamous for its potholed roads or no roads in most areas, today boasts of 27,000 km state highways and district roads and 96,417 km of rural roads. Bihar is now a power surplus state and villages have an electricity supply. There is hardly any area in the state which does not get 20 hours power supply.

There are 6.21 crore mobile phone users in Bihar in 2020- The number of internet users is now at 3.93 crores. With a population of over 10 crores, 62% of the state’s population uses mobile phones, while the internet is used by nearly 40% of people.

Though there is no dearth of talent in the state. Bihar has a reputation of being ‘the land of IIT students’ and it is still far behind when it comes to the IT industry. Government failure to retain the local talent has led to migration to other advanced states.

Education

The National Employability Study 2011 by Aspiring Minds reveals that Delhi and Bihar champion and provide the best talent pool for IT Product, IT Services, KPO, BPO, Software Testing, and Hardware Networking roles.  Bihar should market itself to the rest of India as being home to several Institute of National Importance (INI)  viz IIM Gaya, IIT Patna, NIT Patna, and IIIT Bhagalpur.

The government can hire fresh graduates from these premier college for internship/fellowship. Maharashtra’s and Haryana’s CM fellowship programs are successful examples of it. The focus should be to retain the outside students coming to the state for education and make the best use of their potential.

Special Economic Zone

Bihar has no SEZ so far. Bihar has remained an SEZ-free state as the government wants to avoid any possible controversy due to land acquisition. Lessons from neighboring states of Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal wherein farmers have protested land acquisition for SEZs and other industrial activities, have kept the government in Bihar on backfoot.
The need of the hour is to go for radical reforms. The objective of SEZ is to boost industrial development and generate employment. Bihar is lacking in both.

Interestingly the factors that had been the hindrance of SEZ development in Bihar have now been can now be resolved.  There have been several challenges but if nicely worked there are solutions too.

Fear of backlash in land acquisition.

• Land can be leased out from railways, private pooling of lands.

Business Environment not supporting SEZ concept in the state and also manufacturing sector is quite ignored.

• The business of 21^st Bihar wants to go beyond traditional buyer-seller.

Nonavailability of Skilled Labour force.

• Covid19 has led to reverse migration.
• Work From Home

Political Environment and Bureaucratic complexities are not supportive enough to develop SEZ in Bihar.

Read also

One State, Two Capitals: Atma Nirbhar Bihar – Ashok Choudhary

• 15 years of Nitish rule has provided the right foundation.

Doubts in minds of investors to invest in Bihar.

• Jungle Raj is a matter of the past.

The deficit of electricity poses an enormous constraint for all future.

• Bihar is a net electricity surplus state.

Need to reinvigorate Start-up Culture in Bihar

Uttar Pradesh has recently cleared the UP Startup Policy 2020 to nurture fresh business ideas. Uttar Pradesh is aiming to break into India’s top three-startup congenial states.

Bihar on the other hand among the few states in India to have a start-up policy back in 2016, however, the policy could not make into headlines. The government has made a dedicated fund of INR 500 Cr available for the start-ups and along with the seed grant. The policy has however could not reach the general public and only found a place in the bookshelf of government exam aspirants. With this Startup Policy, 15 Incubation centers were made mostly located in Patna District, out of these only 3-4 Incubation centers are running well and the rest were just shown piece.
The lack of awareness, poor branding of the policy, no promotion of entrepreneurship from school and college levels, and lack of exposure are the major hindrance to the failure.

There is a dearth of angel investors in Bihar making it difficult for the start-ups to sustain in the longer run. Not that people are not willing to invest in start-ups but the lack of a start-up eco-system has prevented them from doing so. The government needs to come up with a new start-up policy or re-brand the existing one. The policy should encourage private participation in investment.

Conducting a national-level hackathon to rope in the talent of Non-Resident Biharis is one easy way to make national headlines. Hiring experts from the industry on a contract basis can help the government think out of the box.

Ghar Wapsi

The government should lure the Non-Resident Bihari techies to stay in the state. With so much emphasis on Digital India, the Bihar government has been focussing on providing e-services via mobile apps and websites. A state-sponsored visit to Raj Bhavan, a ticket to prominent tourist destinations in the state can provide good motivation for them to work for the government on a pro bono basis.

Way Forward

Bihar is revered as the land where Buddha and Mahavira once lived, the land that had been home to the most powerful empires of the ancient world. However, the Bihar of today is seen as a state that is lagging behind in almost all development parameters. IT is a job intensive sector and it does not require massive investment.
All it needs is an assurance from the government for a fair and healthy business. An AtnmaNirbhar Bihar needs a transition not in its skewed share of Agriculture in the economy but also in the workforce. From physical labor to mental labor should be the mantra of the New Bihar.

The post-Covid world is now recognizing the role of India can play not only in the IT and BPO sector but also in the IT-enabled healthcare sector. The distributed skilled workforce it has in Bihar because of the pandemic provides another lease of life to Bihar to come out of technological isolation it had been. Now it is up to the political class on how it wants to leverage its advantage.