NASSCOM prepares five-point agenda for new Govt to boost Indian IT industry

In order to promote the growth and global competitiveness of the IT industry, the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) has prepared a five-point agenda for the new Government formed on May 16. The NASSCOM’ s report suggested five measures including enabling innovation and support entrepreneurship, making the domestic investment easier and simpler, building new markets to promote the growth and global competitiveness of the IT industry, expanding existing markets and focusing on skill development. The NASSCOM President R Chandrashekhar said that new government can use the strength of the Indian IT industry to achieve the development agenda within the country. Indian IT sector has grown in size and now has a global footprint and there is an opportunity for new government to expand sector’s global footprint, which in turn will also contribute to the domestic transformation and developmental agenda. He added that the new Government needs to ensure that the rules for opening and operating the small business are far simpler than earlier and should take measures for funding the start-ups, and connecting them with academics and research and development. Information Technology (IT) has emerged as an industry that has not only transformed India’s image on the global platform, but also fuelled economic growth. Present, market size of Indian IT industry stand at around $50 billion and its contribution to Indian GDP has increased from just 1.2 percent in 90’s to around 8 percent in 2013. India is the only country that covers a wide range of segments of this industry such as IT Services, BPM, Engineering & R&D, Internet & Mobility and Software Products. Currently, the US, UK and other European markets contribute to around 90% of the total business of Indian IT sector.