While the government has allowed IT and IT-enables services to start work with 50 per cent capacity from April 20, IT industry’s apex body Nasscom has suggested the industry to go slow along with maintaining adequate health safety measures in place.
Players in the IT sector have welcomed the move and are also of the view that their business strategy would also need to be changed in the current scenario.
“It is good to see the MHA directive on opening up the economy in a phased manner, 50% of IT sector can go back to work with adequate safety measures in place. Our back to work guidance to the industry would be a phased approach (15-20% workforce in Phase 1) with stringent safety measures in place,” Nasscom said in a statement.
The Centre this week announced exemption to the information and technology (IT) industry, along with certain other sectors from the lockdown, with certain conditions.
Further, the suspension has also been lifted from industries in IT hardware manufacturing companies.
MAIT, the industry body for information and communications technology, said that the decision was the need of the hour as the country would have to turn towards imports to satisfy its domestic demand.
“This move was the need of the hour as all digital and communication highways are built using electronic and ICT products. This was extremely essential as all utilities need these products otherwise imports would have catered to this pent up demand for ICT products estimated at $2.5 billion per month,” said Nitin Kunkolienker, President, MAIT.
MAIT had been urging the government to include manufacturing, sales, and servicing of ICT products, including mobile phones in essential services at a time when reliance on such products and services has increased due to the lockdown.
The IT-BPM sector in India stood at $177 billion in 2019 witnessing a growth of 6.1 per cent year-on-year and is estimated that the size of the industry will grow to $350 billion by 2025.
India’s IT and ITeS industry grew to $181 billion in 2018-19.