Chandigarh - First visit and thoughts about it's chances of becoming the next IT hub

Being from Punjab and having spent all my childhood in Patiala- barely an hour from Chandigarh- people found it difficult to believe that I'd never been to the city beautiful. So, to put all that talk to rest I decided that I should visit it this time.

The journey was not so comfortable as I was travelling by the notorious Punjab Roadways' bus. Entering Chandigarh from Punjab means I entered Mohali first, those entering from Harayana would encounter Panchkula. Immediatley, the fact that I'm on the verge of entering India's first and only planned city became apparent. All the roads had 'FOOTPATHS'. When some of the more well to do areas of bigger cities lack these, it was indeed a good sign.

The roads are well-maintained and quite neat. The Inter-State buses are not allowed to enter the residential sectors making those roads less congested and safer.

Anyone who is familiar with the government residential colonies, especially in North India could easily mistake the city for one giant residential colony. Red, exposed brick structures seem to be the only familiar to the builders in the city. Sadly, this also means that the city seems to lack a character of it's own, but then maybe this is the character of this city.. albeit a forced one.

The chowks are huge and tastefully decorated, traffic is not a nuisance like in mumbai, pune or bangalore and the roads were pretty smooth and well maintaned. However, what's more heartening is the presence of parks and playgrounds.

Now coming to how well placed chandigarh is for becoming the next big destination for IT companies... I would say that for employees this could be one of the best destinations.

The strong points of Chandigarh are:
1. Accomodation is affordable. However, it can be debated as to for how long it will remain so.

2. It's a clean and green city, there are no traffic hassles and pollution levels are quite low.

3. The presence of prestigious educational institutes, be it schools, colleges or universities. Besides Panjab university in Chandigarh, Punjabi University in patiala is barely an hour's drive.Professional institutes like PEC, Thapar for engineering and University business school for management are amongst well known institutes in the country.

4. The city is at the centre of three states, Punjab, Haryana and Himachal. You could stay in any of the three and easily travel to chandigarh for work.

5. Plenty of talented workforce is available. Chandigarh and Patiala are the known as centres of quality education in Punjab and I am guessing that it's no different for the other two neighboring states also.

However, there are a few areas where there could be some improvement:

1. There's just one mall in the city as far as I know, Dhillon complex in Panchkula, reportedly owned by veteran bollywood actress Poonam Dhillon. There are a couple of more malls and multiplexes under construction though.

2. Public transport, although quite good still needs improvement. However, the distances are short enough for you to travel the length and breadth of the city using your own vehicle.

3. The Airport needs to be upgraded to become an international airport. The connectivity to Delhi airport needs a lot of work.

There are IT parks coming up in Chandigarh as well as Mohali and with a little work this could be the next big destination for the IT industry.