IT GOES GREEN IN GUJ

Chitra Unnithan, Mumbai/Ahmedabad
Business Standard

The Information Technology (IT) sector in Gujarat has been witnessing a lot of green initiatives in the recent past. Green IT has become a major buzzword today with Gujarat-based companies working towards sustainable designs and processes in order to promote energy efficient services and products.

Green IT is no different from green initiatives elsewhere. For the IT sector, green is about using scarce resources wisely; in this case the hardware, software, and electricity needed to power IT. Many Gujarat based IT companies and others have taken such and more initiatives to go green.

Take for instance, eInfochips, IP leveraged design service company, which has taken various initiatives to create a green environment. "eInfochips has taken several small and big initiatives towards going Green. In today’s time, such initiatives are necessary for a corporate for cleaner environment. Our company has Green data centers with terminal servers which reduce heat emissions. We promote often usage of video conferencing across offices in India," said Nirav Shah, director of marketing, eInfochips.

Amid meltdown, it becomes imperative for businesses to manage energy supply for the future. Also, the world over, there is a growing concern over the need to remain eco-friendly and cost-effective. For IT companies, the concept of goin green provides the biggest advantage of shooting costs of business.

Gandhinagar-based Infocity, an IT park that headquarters many high technology companies, has taken up the initiative of recycling green waste. According to Snehal Desai, director, Infocity, "A research says, India might generate 3.5 to 4 lakhs tones of e-waste by 2010. At Infocity we are initiating video-conferencing, web-conferencing and heat detection sensors to save unnecessary use of energy and power.

The research also revealed the fact that an IT company with 25000 sq ft data centre should save 40-45 % on consumption of energy in order to prevent e-waste. As e-waste from IT companies will be a big threat to the environment in coming years we intend to recycle e-waste.

This will give the surroundings an eco-friendly infrastructure and green IT environment. As great things happen out of simple deeds, we keep sharing information and folders through intranet amongst management and employees. This prevents unnecessary usage of paper. Though it is common practice, we follow it on a much serious note."

Similarly, Ahmedabad-based (n) Code Solutions, a company that establishes data centres, has also adopted the green concept including power saving, power management, sustainable design, and use of recyclable materials for setting up data centres.

With some exceptions, green IT can be described as a cost-saving initiative with the advantage of attracting global clients. Companies believe that cost-saving initiatives and green IT can, in fact, go hand in hand and make sense from an economic point of view.