Gujarat to lead IT growth in next decade: NASSCOM

With an improved IT infrastructure and education, Gujarat is set to drive IT growth in the next decade, says National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM). According to Som Mittal, president of the IT industry body, while currently six cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Pune form 90 per cent of total IT industry, newer cities like Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Mysore and Chandigarh will drive it in the next decade.

"Today, 90 per cent of IT services work in India happen from the major six IT destinations including Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Pune. In the coming years, I clearly envision 40 per cent of IT services work happening from outside of these six cities, including Ahmedabad. This opportunity gives way to Ahmedabad as a major IT destination in future in the ICT space. With an integrated IT policy, initiatives like GSWAN, e-governance and GIFT, Gujarat has immense potential to become the next IT hub," said Mittal at the Vibrant Gujarat IT Summit organised by Gujarat Informatics Limited, Department of Science and Technology, Government of Gujarat alongwith NASSCOM and Industrial Extension Bureau (iNDEXTb). Suggesting steps to grow further as an IT hub in the next decade, Mittal said that Gujarat can help small companies emerging out of the state to grow as well as attract large companies from outside. "Gujarat can use small companies from within and also attract large companies outside the state who are setting up their second or third units as part of expansion," Mittal added.

Offering a projection of the IT industry in the country, Mittal said that the total turnover of the industry this year will be at around $70 billion (Rs 3.178 lakh crore approx.) which will grow to $225 billion (Rs 10.23 lakh crore approx.) by 2020. "The CAGR of IT for the next decade is pegged at 15 per cent. In fact, the first half of fiscal 2010-11 has seen a growth of 20 per cent," he added.

Titled 'Gujarat: Catalysing Inclusive Growth through ICT', the summit focused on ICT adoption in education, e-governance which has been the major focus of Gujarat till now. It also deliberated on possibilities of exploring opportunities to capitalize on, in the context of BPO, KPO, and semiconductor sectors.

"Gujarat has been one of the front line states in the implementation of key e-governance infrastructure, policies and projects. The government of Gujarat in partnership with NASSCOM and the ICT industry has been working towards creating an enabling environment for IT-BPO companies to setup operations in the state. An integrated IT policy, state-of-the-art infrastructure development and a strong focus towards developing human capital development are some of the major steps taken by the government," said Ravi Saxena, additional chief secretary, Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of Gujarat. Apart from Mittal, the speaker list at the summit also included representatives of Mahindra Satyam, HCL Infosystems Ltd, Mindtree, IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, among others.