This Indian country wants to be a technology hub. But the government is still shutting down the internet

On May 2, 2023, Roshni Kumar Yambem was spending a long day at Globizs, starting his IT services. It wasn’t easy for Yambem to attract international customers while based in the remote Indian state of Manipur, but ten years ago, he did. Globizs was just beginning to emerge from a multi-year recession. However, what was to come the next day would change everything.

On May 3, following violent protests, the state government shut down the internet across Manipur. The move was the latest in a series of curfews and internet shutdowns imposed by the government to control violence amid communal clashes that have killed hundreds of people. This restriction was even stronger. It lasted from May to December, a total of 212 days – the longest blackout period in the worst year for blackouts worldwide, according to the Top10VPN report , an independent web analytics platform.

Internet shutdowns and communal violence brought Manipur’s fast-growing region to an abrupt halt. In 2021 and 2022, Manipur registered 33 and 31 startups, respectively – a higher number than other states in northeastern India, according to government data. However, the actual figure is much higher, said workers in Manipur All over the world. The government’s operations include Globizs, food delivery app Foodwifi, taxi hailing app My Cabs Imphal, healthcare company Medilane, e-commerce sites Kumshung and Teakore, and service provider IT Lamzing Technologies.

However, in 2023, IT professionals from Manipur migrated to other tech hubs in India such as Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Yambem, too, plans to leave the government. He said All over the world its economy has stagnated and shows no signs of recovery.

“In the time of Covid[-19]at least we had an online economy, but now it is like a war,” said Yambem. From hotels to retail businesses, everyone is downsizing and cutting jobs.

Manipur’s ecosystem began to grow in 2018 when the state government launched Startup Manipur, an initiative to promote economic growth and generate large-scale jobs. The government has earmarked 18 million rupees (about $18 million) over five years to build incubators and accelerators, provide financial support to startups, and providing a supportive regulatory framework for local entrepreneurs.

“We have started awareness programs in educational institutions,” Rajiv Kangabam, who heads the Manipur Technology Innovation Hub, a government initiative, said. All over the world. “From stations to other trainings, entrepreneurs are now teaching young people because they need to compete with entrepreneurs from other countries.”

“During Covid, at least we had the internet economy, but now it’s like war.”

The state of Manipur, known for its beautiful landscapes, beautiful dance forms, and large agricultural population, has tried to change its image. For a while, it worked. “People working abroad with MNCs [multinational companies] Hyderabad or London started to come back. Shops, restaurants would stay open until 10 or 11 in the evening,” said Yambem.

Now, Manipur’s tech and startup community is struggling to survive – just like the state as a whole. “People are worried and don’t want to spend money on food. Many have lost their jobs,” Kenedy Oinom, co-founder of Foodwifi, said All over the world. “Shops and companies are closing. It’s a financial crisis.” He said that last year when the internet was blacked out, Foodwifi tried to get involved in the mobile delivery service, but the business has halved over time.

Many entrepreneurs have stopped taking online orders, not sure if they will be able to fulfill them. Internet can stand or courier service. If I don’t complete the order, I will be punished by Amazon and get negative feedback,” Soubam Luxmibai, director of e-commerce site Teakore, said. All over the world. “We plan and then something else happens, and we have to keep putting it together. It’s exhausting.”

Aylan Maibam, who runs technology companies Awpara and Lamzing Technologies, lost his clients after the 2023 internet ban. “I was allowed to set up my work in government offices to access the internet, but How do you match the schedules of my customers from the US and other countries?” he told All over the world. When the government finally lifted the ban, Maibam created half of its workforce through home networks. He said the cost was unreasonably high: $800 a month.

To get online, Yambem said he tried to buy Starlink on the black market.

The list of entrepreneurs’ problems seemed endless. “Even opening a bank account used to take three months,” Okram Premjit Singh, founder of agritech startup Maiyon Agro, said. All over the world. “The availability of foreign markets is almost non-existent. Other than the plane, we have no means of transportation now. We are taxed twice as much as for imported goods.”

The government’s problems continue. On September 10, the government shut down the internet again for five days in response to student protests. In October, part of the country was under a curfew.

In July, N. Biren Singh, the chief minister of Manipur, launched a program to successfully start employment for displaced people. But the businessmen said All over the world that is easier said than done. The disaster continues, and rebuilding will be a difficult task.

“The question is about survival, not growth.”

Kangabam said that the Manipur Technology Innovation Hub is now advising entrepreneurs to focus outside the country, as there are few businesses left within Manipur. “We are killing each other by competing for one city, as other districts like Churachandpur are no longer available,” he said.

Others see opportunity in the problem: Prasanta Talukdar, managing director of the North Eastern Development Finance Corporation, said All over the world that a team from the organization is visiting the capital of Manipur to look for new applications. “Adding businesses is a problem while building Manipur. Businessmen can see this as an opportunity to move to bigger markets,” said Talukdar.

Many entrepreneurs are not ready to move. “Adjusting to the country is easy, but moving to a new city is like starting over,” said Yambem. He is hiring remote workers outside of Manipur to avoid internet outages as he prepares to relocate to Singapore.

For now, he said, “the question is about survival, not growth.”