Prasad to meet IT industry tomorrow on digital economy roadmap

IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad is slated to meet the industry tomorrow to discuss the roadmap for India to become a USD 1 trillion digital economy in the coming years.
This is a follow-up to a similar meeting held in June this year with tech leaders where the minister had exhorted the industry to help India build a USD 1 trillion digital economy over the new few years by creating affordable technology and an inclusive environment.
The country's digital economy is estimated at USD 450 billion presently.
"There is a presentation on digital economy tomorrow... This will be a follow-up of a meeting held earlier this year," Prasad told PTI.

IT industry representatives as well as secretaries of various government departments are expected to participate in the closed-door discussion, which will also review the progress made after the first meeting in June.
"This will essentially be a consultation on the roadmap for digital economy," said Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

When contacted, National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) President R Chandrashekhar said tomorrow's meeting is expected to deliberate on measures that are needed to tap the huge digital opportunity in India.
"The idea is to understand imperatives for the government and industry in tapping the opportunity," said Chandrashekhar, who will attend the meeting.

India is aspiring to become a USD 1 trillion digital economy in next few years, given the slew of opportunities in areas like IT and IT enabled services, e-commerce, electronics manufacturing, digital payments and cyber security.
The previous meeting in June this year was attended by experts like Chandrashekhar, Wipro's Rishad Premji, Indian Cellular Association National President Pankaj Mohindroo, Internet and Mobile Association of India President Subho Ray and Hike Messenger CEO Kavin Bharti Mittal, among others.
The latest round of discussion assumes significance as it comes at a time when the industry, both electronics and software, is engaged in pre-Budget consultations with the government.

Earlier this week, the software industry, under the aegis of Nasscom, had sought a resolution of the issues related to service tax refunds and GST during the pre-Budget meeting with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.