As part of its continued geographic expansion across India, IBM opened a new branch office in Ludhiana, Punjab. The new branch is IBM’s seventh office to be opened in India in the past 12 months after those in Coimbatore, Indore, Guwahati, Dehradun, Raipur and Visakhapatnam. IBM is currently focused on increasing its presence in tier 2 and tier 3 cities in India.
“We are seeing demand for our solutions and services in Ludhiana as businesses in the city turn to IT to increase efficiencies and improve customer service,” said Vivek Malhotra, Vice President and Territory Executive – North and East, IBM India & South Asia. According to him Ludhiana has experienced strong economic growth led by the development of clothing, automotive parts and food manufacturing sectors. “Small scale industries make up an important part of Ludhiana’s business landscape with over 6,000 small to medium sized enterprises operating in the city which is a big opportunity for IBM,” added IBM’s Malhotra.
Currently IBM is working with a number of clients in Ludhiana including textile manufacturer Nahar Group, rice producer Lakshmi Energy and Foods and SPS Apollo hospital. The vendor has also established an IBM Software Center of Excellence at Punjab Agricultural University to provide training on IBM software as part of IBM’s Academic Initiatives.