Domestic IT spend to grow 13.5% in 2016, touch Rs 1.91 lakh cr

Growth will be driven by a broader set of digital initiatives, beyond the limited focus on mobility, cloud computing, and social media in 2015

IT spending in the domestic market is expected to grow 13.5 per cent to Rs 1.91 lakh crore this year, says a report.

According to research firm Core Quadrant, the domestic IT industry revenue in India is expected to grow to Rs 1.91 lakh crore in 2016, against a spending of Rs 1.68 lakh crore in 2015.

The report is based on inputs from 107 CIOs/ IT heads of large and medium-sized Indian enterprises regarding their business priorities and IT plans for this year.

"After a very sluggish growth in 2013, the lowest since 2002, and a muted recovery in 2014, it was widely expected that a full recovery shall begin in 2015. The domestic IT market performance in 2015 has however been below expectations," Core Quadrant co-founder and Principal Analyst Kapil Dev Singh said.

The below expectation performance in 2015 can be attributed mainly to the slow improvement in the business environment, he added.

The spending is, however, expected to gain momentum in 2016.

This will be driven by a broader set of digital initiatives, beyond the limited focus on mobility, cloud computing, and social media in 2015, the report said.

Analytics/ Big Data and Internet of Things are also likely to be in focus this year, it added.

Also, overhauling of the underlying core applications and infrastructure to support the breadth of digital initiatives will help boost domestic spending on technology.

"The business environment shall improve faster in 2016. Though the pressure on IT spend growth shall continue, the increasing breadth of digital initiatives and the overhaul of applications and infrastructure to support those initiatives shall result in a better performance in 2016," Singh said.