Manufacturers’ Association for Information Technology (MAIT) has recommended some key action areas for the BJP Government to take ICT on a global footprint, saying that although the new government will be faced with new demands and expectations, it has to look for resources and expertise to revive economic growth as also renew investments, particularly in the technology space.
While India has experienced significant growth in PC sales in the past few years, it still has IT penetration below 10%. We expect the BJP to stimulate growth in the ICT segment, which would engage 4, 23,500 people, contribute 2, 91,700 crore to the GDP and 1, 10,600 crore in taxes during the next five years.
Amar Babu, President, MAIT said, “Although Mr. Narendra Modi has actively spoken on manufacturing, we suggest his government put in place a manufacturing ecosystem immediately by ushering in policy reforms, regulatory frameworks and removing inverted duty structure to facilitate investments in the country”.
He added, “India is a difficult place to start any business, especially when it comes to enforcing contracts and obtaining building permits. India should restore confidence by addressing these issues and checking India’s miserable rank of 134 in World Bank’s ‘ease of doing business. The Government should consider lowering interest rates on corporate borrowing and a steady transformation of India’s complex tax structure.”
Debjani Ghosh, Vice President, MAIT remarked that “Since Mr. Modi has actively advocated technology penetration and digital literacy, we wish the government build an intelligent and confident India by fostering technology adoption, sprucing up infrastructure, ensuring last mile connectivity, reduce VAT and provide access to easy bank loans in the context of ICT.”
“Technology should not be treated in a silo, but should be made an integral part of all national agendas, be it education, healthcare, infrastructure, financial inclusion or even governance because only such measures will truly bolster national growth,” Ghosh added.
Anwar Shirpurwala, Executive Director, MAIT said, “As a first measure, BJP Government should provide a climate that can enable investment promotion and build on policy measures that would accelerate the growth of domestic manufacturing. Positive sentiments will also build if hurdles are removed in implementation of many existing policies.”
He also said, “Considering the economic strength, India has experienced a significant growth in IT penetration, however, it is still very low compared to various emerging economies. We would want the Modi-led government to work on enabling policies for increasing IT penetration.”