BSA CEO Espinel seeks rationalisation of software localisation norms

To bid for government projects in India, the government mandates that a certain percentage of the product, including software solutions, be made domestically

India’s localisation norms for procuring software meant for government contracts need to be rationalised so that companies can understand the processes better and bid accordingly, said Victoria Espinel, global chief executive officer (CEO) of policy advocacy group Business Software Alliance (BSA).

 

While most global companies have their software development teams in India, it is very difficult for them to establish what percentage of the product has been made in the country and what amount developed outside, she said.

 

Software companies, however, have flagged this requirement as arbitrary because of the lack of objective standards through which domestic value addition can