The state-owned Electronics Trade and Technology Development Corpo-ration (ET&T), known for its low-priced television sets, has tied up with two international information technology (IT) giants to make its presence felt in this highly competitive area.
ET&T has entered into agreements with the International Business Machines (IBM) and Novell and Siemens Nixdorf to diversify its supply of IT products as also developing educational software packages.
It will sell and service IBM products in India. ET&Ts arrangement with Siemens Nixdorf relates to customer billing solutions and supply of computer systems.
With Champs of the US, ET&T has tied up for providing asset maintenance management systems of those assets which are not easily replaceable.
Videcom Incorporation Canada has tied up with ET&T for providing document management solutions or the facility to store electronic files.
We have to move ahead and take the opportunities that unfold. We cannot stagnate. We have to grow and stay ahead, S N Zindal, the chairman cum managing director of ET& T said.
He also revealed ET&Ts long-term plans to use its office in Los Angeles as a prospective base for export of software.
There are also plans to resume exports to the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
ET&T is a fast growing public sector undertaking and its turnover has increased from Rs 29 crore in 1995-96 to cross an estimated Rs 60 crore in the current fiscal.
But the company took some knocks in the early nineties when the liberalisation process had just begun.
Its turnover plummeted due to the entry of several players in the IT sector when a price war ensued.
ET&T has its headquarters in Delhi and has nine branches spread over the country. It, Zindal said, pioneered the peoples computer pricing it at around Rs 10,000 a unit when other IT companies were selling their sets for around Rs 20,000.
ET&T has delivered outdoor broadcast vans to some of the TV networks and exported nearly a lakh of colour TV sets to West Germany and South Korea, after assembling imported kits.
It has exported its 14-inch sets to other centres in Europe. Its largest export consignment was to Iran recently. It also markets classified equipment to the defence, police and state governments, Zindal added.
ET&T has made forays into another lucrative area, IT education training, which is today a Rs 600-crore industry. Compared to the prominent players in the market, such as NIIT, Aptech, Zindal said, ET&T offered training courses at 60 to 65 per cent of the competitors cost.
The external affairs ministry, he pointed out had been sponsoring foreign graduates and employees for training in the ET &T institute since September last year. The course is of a three-month duration.
Our computer education programme, Zindal said, runs under a licensee or franchise scheme which is open to banks and government organisations.
ET&T made its presence during the Asian Games in 1982 when colour television was launched in India.It was the canalising agency for picture tubes.
Even then ET& T was aiming to be more of an IT company than a consumer-oriented one, Zindal said.
