According to ministry of information technology officials, the decision to form the panel has been taken by the prime minister to boost investment in the IT sector and work towards removing the bottlenecks to growth of the industry.

Along with the recently-formed group on telecom and IT convergence, the cabinet committee is expected to ensure better coordination for taking policy-related decisions.

At the first meeting of the group, held under the chairmanship of external affairs minister Jaswant Singh on Thursday, it was decided to form four sub-groups for speedier implementation of the decisions taken by it. The first sub-group will make recommendations for corporatisation of the department of telecom services and comprises DoT secretary Anil Kumar and DTS secretary PS Saran.

The second panel will suggest modifications required to be made in the antiquated Indian Telegraphs Act in view of the convergence of technologies and comprises jurist and member of parliament Fali Nariman, Anil Kumar, ICICI MD and CEO KV Kamath and Prasar Bharti CEO Rajiv Rattan Shah. The third panel has been formed to oversee effective implementation of the ISP Policy, growth of e-commerce and removal of persisting problems in telecom sector. It comprises Planning Commission member Montek Singh Ahluwalia, IT secretary PV Jaykrishnan, besides Anil Kumar.

Another panel has been formed to recommend changes in the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act in order to strengthen it.