In what could be termed as a recognition of positive growth atmosphere of Nagpur, a report by Deloitte and Nasscom has included the city in the list of 26 locations across the country that have the potential to establish themselves as emerging hubs of technological growth and innovtion. The report ‘Emerging Technology Hubs of India’ released a few days ago, describes Nagpur as a ‘pivotal spoke’ for the pre-existing hubs of Mumbai, Pune, and Hyderabad given that it is equi-distant from these cities. Besides, it points out advantage to Nagpur with the Samruddhi Mahamarg expediting connectivity of the city with Mumbai and Pune. Stating that Nagpur has a ‘strategic location’ and is an ‘up and coming hub’, the report adds that Nagpur has the potential to emerge as a leading tech hub. “Nagpur has potential to emerge as a leading hub with its strategic location, comprehensive infrastructure, and an array of tech-focussed institutions, which can provide an ideal environment for companies seeking to expand their operations,” reads the report. Also, Nagpur houses numerous service providers and Global Capability Centres (GCCs), making it an ‘attractive destination for various industries’. With good educational institutions, and incubation system, it is observed in the report, “Nagpur possesses all ingredients needed for a thriving tech hub, including Special Economic Zones and technology parks”.

 

The report prepared by Deloitte and Nasscom lists several advantages of Nagpur. These include presence of more than 200 technology and business process management (BPM) related business set-ups with training centres, additionally more than 550 technology and BPM-related business set-ups, high availability of employed and trained talent pool from the Nagpur and neighbouring cities, availability of quality talent for tech domain, high availability of ‘Grade A’ office infrastructure and MIHAN-SEZ with focus on aviation and logistics and technology. As far as ease of doing business is concerned, the report assesses that Nagpur has moderate ease. The region is to be developed for aerospace and defence, textile, and food processing hub. Nagpur ranks 23rd among the most preferred destination for start-ups in India and home to more than 300 technology start-ups, the report points out. Besides, the report appreciates that Nagpur has a ‘good base of investors, accelerators, and incubators’ such as Nagpur Angels, TiE Nagpur, and VNIT. It cites a DataLabs research, which states that the total funding of Nagpur-based start-ups from 2014 to the first quarter of 2019 was US$ 442091.

 

The Deloitte-Nasscom report also mentions HCL, GlobalLogic, Persistent Systems, Air India Engineering Services Limited, AAR-Indamer MRO facilities, Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited, Thales Reliance Defense System, Lupin Pharma, Punjab and Sind Bank, Venture Catalysts, Inc42 and Digital Ocean, Lemon Ideas Innovations, Bloom Consulting Services, LocationGuru, RF Arrays’ Smart Grid and such names while highlighting Nagpur’s strengths in terms of technology ecosystem. As far as social and living environment is concerned, the report states that Nagpur has ‘moderate’ education ecosystem, ‘moderate’ medical ecosystem, ‘moderate’ cost of living index with relatively affordable cost of living than other major cities in the country, and crime index with ‘relatively safe environment for its residents’. However, it mentions, the city’s pollution index is ‘poor’ with ‘high levels of air and water pollution’.