Industry leaders show interest at India Gadget Expo

KTR inaugurates first-of-its-kind expo at Hitex

With much fanfare and amazement, Hyderabad opened its doors to the first India Gadget Expo 2014. The expo was inaugurated by K T Rama Rao, Minister of IT, Panchayat Raj, Govt of Telangana, at Hitex on Thursday. He was accompanied by JA Chowdary, chairman of the steering council, India Gadget Expo. Celebrated anchor Rajiv Makhni, also known by the name ‘Tech Guru,’ hosted the event.

Addressing the attendees of the event, the minister said, “We want to encourage the IT industry to grow in the state. We have started several initiatives like the ITIR, Fab City, to support the same. India Gadget Expo would act as a catalyst in drawing the attention of the global chip manufacturing companies towards Hyderabad.”

Shedding light on the Fab City project he said, “Fab City is an initiative to encourage chip manufacturing units to set-base in Hyderabad, is bound to find ready audience at the India Gadget Expo as industry leaders, heads of consumer electronics companies, etc. are attending the event.”

The expo had exhibitors from gadgets and electronics industry like LG Electronics, Qualcomm, Nokia, D-Link, Gionee, Amazon, etc. Though the start was indeed a humble one with a few select exhibitors, the organisers are keen on making India Gadget Expo exclusive to Hyderabad akin to what Consumer Electonics Show (CES) is to Las Vegas.

J A Chowdary, said, “India with a large economy and population comprising of young people who are embracing modern technology, is a target market for global electronic/gadget manufacturers. We have almost every global brand present in India today. However, India does not have a B2B platform for the gadget industry, there are global events like the CES in Las Vegas, Gadget Show in London, etc., where the entire industry converges to have meaningful discussions about the gadgets and future road map for the industry. We are positioning the expo as the solution, an annual knowledge conclave for the tech industry in India.”

He continued, “We aim to make India Gadget Expo, a one stop solution for every techie and innovator. We want the expo to create excitement amongst the Indian consumers and build aspiration for useful and innovative gadgets. With concurrent major brand innovations overshadowing the SME talents, we ensure every newbie innovator gets their chance to flourish.”

Aiming to be the CES of India, the team is gearing up for their next expo, scheduled tentatively in April 2015.