Target PC penetration of 65 per 1,000: IT Committee

A committee on 'Improving PC Penetration, Internet and Domestic Software' in the country, set up in January by the ministry of communications & IT recently submitted its report to the centre.

It has recommended a target computer penetration of 65 per thousand people, by 2008, according to a newsletter circulated by the Manufacturers' Association for IT.

The committee wants India to increase the pace of IT penetration in the country and achieve the levels prevailing in China in the next three to four years. But, PC penetration will have to increase four-fold by 2008 to touch China's current levels, at 65 per thousand.

Other targets include Internet penetration of 40 per 1,000 from the existing 5 per 1,000 (number of subscribers); the domestic software industry, including the local language applications and content industry to grow seven-fold from some $4 billion (Rs 1,900 crore) to $28 billion (Rs 13,300 crore).

All villages to be made online for agricultural, healthcare and education services and IT should contribute significantly to the growth of the national GDP.

The report says increasing the IT penetration in India needs an environment that encourages development of the domestic IT industry. This will eventually help attract investments in IT manufacturing.

A roadmap is to be developed for attracting IT manufacturing investments in the country leading to not only a vibrant domestic manufacturing industry but also substantial exports.

It has recommended the launch of several "mission mode" projects like IT-enabled teaching and IT teaching in education, IT deployment for economic development in rural India and telemedicine.

It has also recommended projects to provide affordable computing for homes and small and medium businesses and e-governance, joint industry-government IT usage promotion programme. The recommendations are interlinked and need to be implemented in-sync for the desired multiplier affect, the newsletter says.

The committee members included bureaucrats from the department of IT Ajai Chowdhry, chairman and chief executive officer of HCL Infosystems R Ramraj, managing director and chief executive officer, Sify, Kiran Karnik, former president, National Association of Software and Services Companies, R S Pawar, chairman of NIIT Limited and Vinnie Mehta, executive director, Manufacturing Association of IT.