Strengthening air connectivity with major IT hubs and building strong industry–academic ties are essential factors to brand Nagpur as Central India’s digital and cyber capital, industry experts said on Monday. Experts noted that the lack of these factors is holding back the growth of the Information Technology sector in the city. The remarks were made during a stakeholder consultation on IT industry development in the Nagpur division, held at the Divisional Commissionerate. The session was chaired by Vijayalakshmi Bidari, Divisional Commissioner.

 

The consultation was organised as a multi-stakeholder consultation platform to bring together industry leaders, startups, academia, Government agencies, and eco-system enablers to co-create a roadmap for accelerating IT sector growth in Nagpur division. Pravin Mahire, Additional Collector; Vijaya Agarkar, Deputy Director and Region Head, West, National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM); Amitabha Khanna, President, Vidarbha Association of Software Exporters (VASE); Shashikant Chaudhary, serial entrepreneur and core member of Association of Industrial Development (AID); Amitabh Sinha, Chairman, Vidarbha Zonal council, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII); and senior officials from leading IT companies were present for the session. The industry experts present at the session asserted that the air connectivity with other IT hubs like Pune, Chennai, Bengaluru or international destinations like Dubai and Singapore is crucial for development of IT sector, which depend heavily on foreign clients.

 

Currently, the air connectivity from city is not suitable for the industry. There is no direct connection with Chennai. While the flights to and from Pune are at very odd hours making them impractical for the industry. Only the flights to and from Bengaluru are at reasonable hours. But international connectivity still evades the city. Divisional Commissioner Bidari echoed the sentiment regarding importance of enhancing air connectivity with key IT centres such as Chennai and Pune to attract investment and facilitate ease of business. Bidari also emphasised the need to develop Nagpur as a major information technology (IT) and IT-enabled services hub, with a specialised focus on artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity and data analytics. She also highlighted that the city’s strategic location, along with the presence of MIHAN and improving infrastructure, provides a strong foundation for IT sector expansion. 

 

Bidari stressed the need for closer collaboration between IT companies and educational institutions to ensure the availability of skilled manpower. She proposed a ‘one company, one college’ model, where a company will adopt one college to promote skill development and industry readiness among students. Additionally, she called for efforts to bring back skilled professionals from Nagpur currently working in other cities.

 

 

Highlighting the importance of urban development, Bidari said that transforming city into a ‘lifestyle city’ with improved amenities such as malls, theatres, hotels and efficient transport systems would be essential to attract talent and investment. She also appreciated the suggestion from industry experts that Nagpur should aim to position itself as a ‘next-wave city’ rather than a Tier-II city.

 

 

The discussions also focused on establishing global capability centres, promoting sectors such as supply chain, warehousing and robotics, and ensuring city’s participation in national and international IT summits. Participants emphasised the need to introduce specialised courses in cybersecurity and AI across engineering institutions.