New age services to citizens

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: In the recent Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit, the Prime Minister expressed his desire to intensify reforms and development in the areas of energy, security, infrastructure development, agriculture, transportation, science and technology and education. The outlook provided by the Union government is positive and we seem to be heading in the right direction. The message is clear: the emphasis is on growth and development.

The Indian economy has displayed robustness and has been one of the better performers in the world in recent years. However, driving growth in times of recession is a challenge for the government at the moment. For India to move ahead in the global economy, the need of the hour is incentives that will attract more investments and create a cascading effect resulting in growth and inclusion. Large corporates too have realised the need to appreciate and address the growing demands of the local market.

According to the IDC India report, the share of the IT services and ITeS for the domestic market is expected to rise from 31.7% in 2008 to 41.9% in 2013, signaling the increasing focus of enterprises on local market needs. The new phase of growth will see IT vendors helping enterprises and government design and deliver ‘new age’ services to citizens by leveraging their existing IT infrastructure.

The extension of the tax holiday beyond 2010 for at least three more years would enable the Indian IT sector to compete with other countries globally. These incentives will help the small and medium businesses in particular, a key growth sector that accounts for 40% of the exports made from software technology parks. There will also be tremendous opportunities on two counts. Firstly, the modern parts of the economy—manufacturing, transport and housing—have made barely a beginning in the mission becoming more energy-efficient.

Tax subsidies and investments in research and development in the renewable energy space will make clean and green energy accessible to corporates and individuals.

Secondly, the share of the IT industry in the country’s GDP is 5.8%. We have to make sure that technology is available across all sections of society. Currently, the universal service obligation (USO) fund of more than Rs 200 billion is available to set up telephony in remote areas specified by the government. The sum, say telecom experts, could connect every district with fibre optic pipes.