Edutech to storm IT training market in India

Edutech Informatics India Pvt Ltd, a Rs 10.5-crore arm of the Singapore-based Informatics Group and a joint venture partner in an information technology institute to be set up in Gurgoan, is set to storm the bastion of NIIT and APTECH.

Ritujoy Chakraborty

agencyfaqs!

NEW DELHI, August 01

Edutech Informatics India Pvt Ltd, a Rs 10.5-crore arm of the Singapore-based Informatics Group and a joint venture partner in an information technology institute to be set up in Gurgoan, has big plans for India. It hopes to close its books this year with a turnover of Rs 30 crore and take the number of education centres to 275, up from 125 currently.

While Edutech Informatics India Ltd. was formally launched in April 1999, Informatics Inc. (Singapore) has had a franchised presence in a tie-up with Mumbai-based Krislon since 1992. However, witnessing slow growth, the parent company decided to turn the tables in 1998. Explains Pradeep Tripathi, MD and CEO, Edutech Informatics India Ltd, "Informatics, being Asia's largest IT education and training company, was not entirely happy with the slow growth registered by its franchisee network in the country. To prevent Informatic's name and image being tarnished, the company decided to enter and take a more active role."

When Informatics Inc and a consortium of NRIs from Singapore decided to take over the majority stake in the Indian operations, the number of Krislon-controlled franchised centres stood at 35. Since the launch of Edutech Informatics, this number has grown to 125.

The ad and promotion budget is up, too, from Rs 1.8 crore last year to Rs 3 crore now. So how does the company find the space to grow in this fiercely competitive market, dominated by giants like NIIT and APTECH?

Tripathi is of the view that Edutech Informatics is able to differentiate from the competition on two counts, "First, we lay a lot of emphasis on building up the basics of a 10+2 student before exposing him to hard-core programming. Second, because of our strong links with major software companies, we are able to offer courses tailor-made for working on these software platforms."

In addition, Edutech claims to have an edge due to its tie-ups with various Indian universities, in addition to tie-ups with brands like University of Cambridge and University of Oxford.

Among its other initiatives, Edutech has recently joined hands with the Haryana State Electronics Development Corporation Ltd. (HARTRON) to set up an information technology institute in Haryana. Besides HARTRON and Edutech, seven other IT players will be a part of the joint venture.

The Indian Institute of Information Technology-Haryana will impart education, training and provide for applied research in the area of IT and its applications. IIIT-Haryana will be the fifth such IT-specific institute aiming for a ‘deemed university' status after similar centres in Allahabad, Gwalior, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Says Tripathi, "Unlike the competition from government universities and established private institutes, IIIT-H will be focused only on IT and IT-enabled services. The institute will be unique in providing hands-on experience to its students in working with these software majors in addition to the academic training."

He has tough competition on this front considering the cult-status and global acceptability of names like the IITs, IISc and others in offering quality IT education.

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