Minister welcomes proposal to start IT hubs in Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has assured leaders of India’s top IT companies that the Central government will give full support to the sector to accelerate growth and help the country’s Services exports soar to US$1 trillion in a decade.
Goyal said India was on track to achieve its merchandise exports target of US$400 billion this year, while Services exports were likely to be about US$240 billion to US$250 billion, which is much lower, but can grow rapidly and catch up with merchandise exports.
“When I look at the trajectory of these, I personally believe this is going to be a race to the top. We can converge US$1 trillion. That should be the ambition, mission. You have a little bit of catching up to do. I’ll be delighted if you cross US$1 trillion faster,” the minister told IT industry leaders through virtual meeting on 16 Jan 2022.
Goyal welcomed the IT industry’s proposal to start IT hubs in Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns, which would create numerous jobs and help develop the regions. He said the IT industry should identify the towns and the Centre would assist them in providing all the necessary infrastructure and facilities.
He said the IT industry can make a big contribution to Services exports by focusing on new technology and products that can make India a bigger global player in the sector.
The minister also urged the IT leaders to focus on high-tech products. The IT industry had grown spectacularly on its own and many of the top companies grew at a time when India did not focus on creating a favourable ecosystem for Startups.
He assured that the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) will provide any assistance needed by the IT industry to help it grow rapidly and contribute to India’s export of Services.
The virtual meeting was attended by Nasscom President Debjani Ghosh, Infosys CEO Salil Parekh, Tech Mahindra CEO & MD C.P. Gurnani; Srikanth Velamakanni, co-founder and CEO of artificial intelligence technology startup Fractal Analytics; Mphasis CEO Nitin Rakesh; Wipro Chairman Rishad Premji; Genpact CEO N.V. Tyagrajan; WNS Global Services Group CEO Keshav R Murugesh; Mastek CEO Hiral Chandrana and Krishnan Ramanujam, President and Head of Business & Technology Services at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).
IT industry leaders said the sector had seen strong growth last year. Strong earnings reported by companies recently have set a positive tone for the years ahead. fiinews.com
