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He said the industry, that contributes 55% of the state gross domestic product (SGDP) and created half a million jobs directly and 1.5 million jobs in the secondary and tertiary sectors of the economy is grappling with inadequate infrastructure like roads and airports.
“I do believe that for an industry that contributes about 55% of the GDP of the state and created half a million jobs with an average of Rs 50,000-Rs 60,000 per month salary and 1.5 million jobs in the secondary and tertiary sectors of the economy with a net foreign exchange of Rs 55,000 crore, I do believe that this industry deserves the encouragement of the government,”he said while addressing the 36 th annual general meeting of Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC), here.
He urged the state government to create better infrastructure like airports and roads in Bangalore, so that the software industry can create even larger number of jobs and earn much larger amount of foreign exchange for the state and the country.
“We want the government to create reasonable roads, electricity, water and some English medium schools, so that we can create a better future for the city and state,” Murthy said.
He said his company, Infosys, has created 40,000 jobs in Karnataka. Of this, 25,000 are in Bangalore, 10,000 in Mysore and 5,000 in Mangalore. “Our training facility in Mysore is largest in the world and last year our company paid a tax of Rs 3,377 crore, which is the largest tax paid in this city,” he said.
Further, emphasizing the importance of software industry in the current scenario, Murthy said it has provided higher number of jobs and paid better salary to its employees.
“In these days of heavy current account deficit (CAD), obviously our politicians and bureaucrats must realize the importance of this industry. One industry contributing as much as Rs 1,35,000 crore to the export earnings has never happened in the history of the state,” he said.
The total number of professionals employed in the software industry is 500,000 and average salary of an employee is Rs 50,000 per month. Compared this with the per capita GDP of the state, which is Rs 6,000per month, what this means is somebody in the industryearns at least 8-9 times of the average per capita GDP of Karnataka, he noted.
The good thing about such earnings of people is that they create secondary and tertiary employment. For every person employed in the software industry, there are about three persons employed in the secondary and tertiary sectors.
The average per capita earnings in this industry is about Rs 30 lakh or 40 times of per capita GDP of the state. Every person employed in the software industry not only earns for himself but earns for the company 40 times of per capita GDP. No other industry has earned so much in the country or the state, he said.
