Global positioning system
Union minister for communication and IT Kapil Sibal has unveiled the draft policy on information technology (IT) 2011 that aims at creating a pool of one crore (10 million) skilled manpower by 2020 and strengthening India's position as a global IT power.
Revenue raising
The policy also targets exports worth $ 200 billion and a total revenue of Rs 14.82 lakh crore ($ 300 billion) by 2020 from the IT and IT-enabled services (ITes) industry. Currently, India exports shipment worth Rs 2.91 lakh crore ($ 59 billion), while the revenue generated stands at Rs 4.34 lakh crore ($ 88 billion).
Sky is the limit
'Our objective from this policy is to increase revenues of IT and ITeS (ITenabled services) industry from $ 88 billion at present to $ 300 billion by 2020 and expand exports from $ 59 billion at present to $ 200 billion by 2020 and to create a pool of one crore additional skilled manpower in ICT (information and communications technology),' Kapil Sibal said while unveiling the draft policy on information technology 2011.
Start-ups shining
The draft is available for comments from the public and various stakeholders for a month on the Websites of the Department of Information Technology and the Department of Telecommunications. The draft policy aims to provide fiscal benefits to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and start-up ventures in the key industrial verticals for adoption of IT.
Incentivising IT
'The Indian IT sector, which gets 80 per cent of its revenues from exports, employs over 2.5 lakh skilled people,' Sibal added.
'We are waiting for the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) to be put into place, then we will make a framework to provide incentives to small and medium IT firms,' he said.
Cloud clout
The draft also focuses on gaining significant global market share in cloud-based technologies and services and mobile-based value-added services.
Employment benefits
The policy also formulates fiscal and other regulations to attract investments in the sector in Tier-II and III cities and to create employment opportunities across the country.
Smaller cities, bigger promise
As most of the IT companies are located in big cities like Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad, and Mumbai, the policy will now look at expanding to Tier II and Tier III cities as well, Sibal added.
Education boost
'A conducive policy environment and the concerted strategy is needed for the country to remain a global player on a long-term basis,' he said. Further, it also calls for setting up centres of excellence in institutions of higher learning so as to produce at least 3,000 PhDs in ICT in specialised areas by 2020.
In short...
-Policy to provide fiscal benefits to SMEs and start-up ventures in key industrial verticals
-Aims to gain big global mkt share in cloud-based services & mobile-based value-added services
-Formulates rules to attract investments in IT in Tier-II & III cities
-Draft is available for comments from public and stakeholders
0 comments:
Post a Comment