As
the city grapples with the horror of the terror strike,
CNBC-TV18 reports on whether brand Hyderabad has suffered
any damage.
No
panic, no security blanket, it was like any other Sunday
morning. That was the scene at Hyderabad''s hi-tech city,
just 11 hours after the two bomb blasts. So, while companies
aren''t panicking, some of the country''s largest pharma
companies, which are headquartered in Hyderabad, are unsure
of how new recruits will now look at moving to Hyderabad
to work.
"As
a mix of corporations that hire a lot of people from other
cities in India or possibly expats that are hired for
a location in Hyderabad, I suspect there will be some
more interactions on these questions. But whether it will
impact or not, we will have to wait and watch," said
Prabhir Jha, senior vice president, Dr Reddy''s Lab.
Hyderabad
headquartered IT giant Satyam said there will not be any
impact of the blasts on business, but nonetheless the
company has gone ahead and increased security at its offices.
The local BPO companies, which already have stringent
security precautions, say working in multiple international
locations and in an age of terror has made them more proactive
when dealing with such incidents.
"There
were at least three - four companies in Hyderabad that
proactively spoke to customers. They sent emails in terms
of what was being done. They sent SMS communications,
in terms of what was being taken care of for guest houses,
travel, etc. So, a lot of these things are done proactively
so that people don''t worry," said Pratap G, senior
HR Professional.
So,
while the industry says such steps ensure no adverse long-term
impact on the business, there are still isolated knee
jerk reactions by customers.
A
large BPO told us on the condition of anonymity that the
blasts on Saturday already had the first impact on business.
A potential customer, that is one of the world''s largest
financial organizations, was supposed to do a site visit
on Monday. That, however, stands cancelled. The reason
being the bomb blasts.
But
in the long term, almost all companies believe that ''Brand
Hyderabad'' has not suffered because of the blasts.
"To
me, its a stray incident. But the two blasts that happened
so soon after one another may have made people take note,
because Hyderabad is such a peaceful city. But this morning,
I was out and I did not see anything that indicated panic
or anything to suggest a slowdown," said Amitabh
Guha, CMD, State Bank of Hyderabad.
"No
single incident like this, however unfortunate and disgusting
it is, can make the growth rate (come down) from 9 per
cent to 8 per cent or something like that. Companies,
however, say that local authorities must ensure that the
perpetrators of the crime are brought to book, because
not only would that give local businesses more confidence,
international investors too will keep the faith in Brand
Hyderabad," said Rahul Bajaj, Chairman and MD, Bajaj
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