Bangalore October 18 2012: The new policy for the IT industry, just announced by the government of India, envisages doing $ 300 billion of business by 2020 – up from $ 101 bn today. This would mean attaining a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.8% compared to 10- 12% at present. This was stated by J. Satyanarayana, Secretary, (India) Department of Electronics and IT, at the inauguration of Bangalore IT.biz, Karnataka state’s flagship IT event, on Wednesday..
He also announced that the country’s first IT Infrastructure Region – 40 sq. km 14 kms from the Bangalore airport – has been approved and is poised to take off this year.
Inaugurating the  host state's Chief Minister Jadgish Shettar said, “Karnataka is contributing to about 40% of the IT exports of the country. Out of the 2,500,000 software professionals employed in the country, over 800,000 are employed in Bangalore alone. The contribution of IT to Karnataka’s GDP is over 20% ( nationally, 7.5%- ed). The success story of the MNCs operating in Bangalore goes to indicate the tremendous confidence that the Industry has in the Government and the people.”
Omkar Rai, Director General of Software Technology Parks of India (STPI )said “Over the years this event has evolved, risen and understood the aspirations of the industry. About 70 % of IT exports from India are attributed to STPI registered units. Our STPI pavilion here has a remarkable 39 start ups and SMEs from 11 states participating and showcasing their innovative products and technologies.”
The 15th edition of Bangalore’s flagship IT event – now being called Bangalore IT.Biz for the last few years -- kicked off yesterday at a new location – the convention centre of the Karnataka Trade Promotion Organisation in Whitefield, with over 100 exhibitors taking part, and some 180 speakers featured in 22 sessions spread across 12 tracks. The STPI, a co-host of the event, had the largest floor space – showcasing the innovation of 40 micro, medium and small enterprises. 
The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing was arguably the most visited stand—with younger delegates and visitors crowding, to sample recently launched CDAC tools and solutions likeUSB Pratirodh, a software to control USB access and use; Megha, a cloud computing interface for the Indian national Grid, GARUDA; a CDAC Scientific Cloud ( CSC) resource and reference designs for a slate of wirelessly managed devices like energy meters, air quality monitors and intrusion detectors.
As many as 11 states are participating this year – with Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan having the biggest showcases in the expo area.
Wipro which showcased its Ultrabook and tablet offerings was an exception among major Indian IT players, who chose not to exhibit -- or like IBM and Infosys, wasted their exhibition stands.

Among private companies exhibiting, we found innovative products or compellingly priced solutions in a few:
Bangalore-based Connoiseur Electronics ( www.connoiseur.com  ) exhibited an extremely small form factor Nano PC, less than half a kg in weight and fuelled by the latest Intel Cedar View D2500 Atom chip. It retailed for around Rs 13,000. Connoi also showed its G1 all-in-one PC with a 22 inch monitor and a family of touch screen student notebooks which could be powered by solar energy. 
From Hyderabad RDP Workstations (www.rdpcomputing.in  ) displayed a family of thin client PCs from the entry level SC-100 costing Rs 2500 to the mini-ATX-sized XL-500 costing around Rs 9500.
ADD Technologies, also Bangalore-based (www.addtech.in ) showcased its range of anytime payment kiosk solutions as well as a new cheque drop kiosk which scans and reads the MICR number and prints out an acknowledgement…. Some thing on the wish list of many bank customers.
India’s first mobile bus ticketing app for Android phones was unveiled by Culligence Software (India) – called MyBusTickets http://www.mybustickets.in/ ) 
Airtel was on hand to sign up customers for its 4G data services in the City – the only place outside Kolkata where it is currently offered.
Do see our Image of the Day spot at www.indiatechonline.com  for photos of the exhibition highlights mentioned above