INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Despite the global economic slowdown, the
Indian IT software and services industry is maintaining a steady pace of
growth. Software development activity is not confined to a few cities in
India. Software development centers, such as Bangalore, Hyderabad,
Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Calcutta, Delhi-Noida-Gurgaon, Vadodara,
Bhubaneswar, Ahmedabad, Goa, Chandigarh, Trivandrum are all developing
quickly. All of these places have state-of-the-art software facilities
and the presence of a large number of overseas vendors. India’s most
prized resource is its readily available technical work force. India has
the second largest English-speaking scientific professionals in the
world, second only to the U.S. It is estimated that India has over 4
million technical workers, over 1,832 educational institutions and
polytechnics, which train more than 67,785 computer software
professionals every year. The enormous base of skilled manpower is a
major draw for global customers.
India provides IT services at one-tenth the
price. No wonder more and more companies are basing their operations in
India.
India is among the three countries that
have built supercomputers on their own. The other two are USA and Japan.
India is among six countries that launch satellites and do so even for
Germany and Belgium. India's INSAT is among the world's largest domestic
satellite communication systems.
India has the third largest
telecommunications network among the emerging economies, and it is among
the top ten networks of the world.
According to National Association of
Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM), the IT investment in telecom
in the country is primarily in applications and products for managing
the network and providing improved customer service. In 2002-03,
according to NASSCOM estimates, the total revenues of the Indian IT
market were Rs317 billion, comprising hardware of nearly Rs180
billion and software and services revenues (including IT Training) of Rs137 billion. While overall, the Indian IT market has grown from
Rs
5,4500 million (US$ 1.73 billion) in 1994-95 to Rs79,3370 million (US$
16.5 billion) in 2002-03, accounting for 3% of India's GDP in 2002-03.
Today, India exports software and services
to nearly 100 countries around the world. The share of North America
(U.S. & Canada) in India’s software exports is about 61 per cent.
According to a NASSCOM
-
McKinsey report, annual revenue projections for
India’s IT industry in 2008 are US $ 87 billion and market openings are
emerging across four broad sectors, IT services, software products, IT
enabled services, and e-businesses thus creating a number of
opportunities for Indian companies. In addition to the export market,
all of these segments have a domestic market component as well.
Other key findings of this report are:
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Software & Services will contribute over
7.5 % of the overall GDP growth of India
-
IT Exports will account for 35% of the
total exports from India
-
Potential for 2.2 million jobs in IT by
2008
-
IT industry will attract Foreign Direct
Investment (FDI) of U.S. $ 4-5 billion
-
Market capitalization of IT shares will
be around U.S. $ 225 billion
Ministry for Information and Technology
(IT), Government of India has taken a major step towards promoting the
domestic industry and achieving the full potential of the Indian IT
entrepreneurs. An IT committee was set up by the Ministry of Information
Technology, comprising Non Resident Indian (NRI) professionals from the
United States to seek expertise and advice and also to step up U.S.
investments in India's IT sector. Minister of Information Technology
chairs the committee and the members include Secretary, Ministry of
Information Technology and a large number of important Indian American
IT entrepreneurs.
IT
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