PANAJI
Information-technology (I-T) start-ups in Goa are finding it difficult to find office space at affordable rate once they move out of incubation centres. That alongwith poor bus and internet connectivity in the State has emerged as a major hurdle for these young companies.
Amarsh Chaturvedi, founder, Transerve Technologies, said, “Rents for commercial space are higher in Goa than in Pune or Bangalore. For instance, in Patto, the average rental is Rs 75 per square feet per month; while in Pune, the average rent is around Rs 45 per square feet per month in IT hubs like Hinjawadi”.
Transerve Technologies has been based out of Centre for Incubation and Business Acceleration (CIBA) in Verna for two years now. “We are in the process of moving out of CIBA, but we aren’t able to find the right kind of space in Goa, which offers affordable rent and good connectivity. Due to this, we may consider moving to Pune”, Chaturvedi said.
Cities like Pune and Bangalore not only offer cheaper rentals but even provide much better transport and internet connectivity than Goa. IT companies work round-the-clock, while in Goa there’s no concept of night bus service.
The bus connectivity in the State is average even during the day. Jervis Pereira, director, GITIC (Goa Information Technology Innovation Centre), said, “We really have to improve connectivity in Goa. Not much has happened on it in the last two decades”.
As of now, a number of small IT start-ups are based out of incubation centres like GITIC and CIBA, but they land into trouble the moment they think of coming out of these incubation centres.
There are no IT hubs like Hinjawadi in Goa yet and it is not feasible for them to find office-space in an industrial estate because plot sizes are much bigger there than they require or even afford.
Pereira added, “Only companies which are going large scale would think of finding space in industrial estates. A company should have minimum 100 employees as only then making such kind of investment is profitable”.
IT companies even complain that internet downtime is way too high in Goa. This is a huge dampener for an industry, which depends so much upon internet.
Here again, places like Mumbai, Bangalore and Pune score high as there are a number of internet service providers there, which provide good and reliable service at affordable prices.
