The government has given an 'in-principle' approval to the special incentive package prepared by the department of information technology for semiconductor manufacturing and other high-tech industries.
Announcing this at the Nasscom India Leadership Forum in Mumbai on Wednesday , Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Dayanidhi Maran, added, "I have always been a supporter of extending the Software Technology Parks of India sops beyond 2009. But the industry is divided over the issue. Let's try to get the extensions together (looking at Nasscom President Kiran Karnik)."
He was responding to the inaugural comments of Ramalinga Raju, chairman, Nasscom, who said: " We hope the sunset clause of 2009 for the STPIs is extended for another 10 years." Karnik, meanwhile, assured Maran that he had the "full support" of the industry.
Realising the infrastructure problem that the Indian IT/ITeS segment is facing, Maran pointed out that "a note of recommendations from the PMO suggests that integrated modern townships for sunrise industries such as the IT-BPOs sector are imperative". It will ease the existing pressure of the metro cities and create growth in Tier II and III cities. The details of the township are to be worked with the Nasscom and other industry participants.
"Infrastructure, in terms of better and more airports -- particularly in the country's Tier II and Tier III locations and special Modern Greenfield Integrated Townships, need to become a part of our future roadmap. Already, such hubs are being envisioned by the country's policy makers," he explained.
Earlier, Karnik, in his address, said: "We have three primary focus areas -- one is to ensure data security and all other initiatives related to the delivery model. Second would be workforce development and finally promoting innovation around processes, products and service models."
The Indian IT industry, including hardware, has grown ten-fold over the past decade -- from $4.8 billion in 1997-98 to $47.8 billion in fiscal 2006-07 -- and its contribution to India's Gross Domestic Product is estimated to have risen from 1.2 per cent to 5.4 per cent. He reiterated that, given the current growth rate, the IT-ITES sector would touch anywhere between $60-75 billion by 2010.
According to the findings of the Nasscom's Strategic Report 2007, Indian service providers have grown their share of contracts of value exceeding $50 million from 1 per cent in 2002 to 7 per cent in 2006 while over $10 billion worth of investment has been announced by MNCs, to be invested over the next few years.
Townships for IT BPOs on the anvil
In keeping with an initiative of the Prime Minister, the Centre is working on creating "integrated modern townships" for industries such as IT BPOs, Communication and IT Minister Dayanidhi Maran said On Wednesday.
"A recent note of recommendations from the prime minister's office suggests that integrated modern townships for sunrise industries such as IT-BPOs are imperative," Maran said at the National Assoociation of Software and Service Companies India Leadership Forum.
The creation of such townships will take pressure off large cities that are unable to cope with growing infrastructure demands and help in decentralising economic activity, he said.
Representatives of the IT industry, Nasscom, Department of Information Technology and Urban Development Ministry have been brainstorming on how infrastructure for IT-BPOs can be created and expanded in Tier II cities in a phased manner, he said.
The Information Technology Amendment Bill introduced in Parliament in December last year has been referred to a standing committee.
"After the recommendations of the standing committee are received, the bill will go to the Cabinet and later to Parliament," Maran said.
Additional inputs: PTI
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