Bangalore, July 2, 2014:  On his first visit to India's Silicon City after he took charge as Minister in charge of  Communications and Information Technology,  Ravi Shankar Prasad  met with industry organisations, National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM)  and  Indian Software Products Industry Roundtable (iSPIRT)  and  exchanged ideas on how to take the infotech business forward.
“This is my first formal interaction after taking up the position of minister of communications & IT, and I want to reiterate the need to transform India into a software product nation. The future of the Indian IT industry will be driven by products and there is a need to encourage investments in this segment", said Prasad, likening the interface  to a panchayath or village council and promising many more of the same.
Said NASSCOM President R Chandrashekhar:“Of the total revenue, about 80% is contributed by 200 larger and mid-sized players and, rest 20% comes from more than 16,000 companies that are either small and emerging. With constant innovations both at global and domestic level, the smaller companies can become bigger and large companies can penetrate the market deeper, but only with right and immediate support by the government in terms. Our future growth will be driven by innovation, IP and valuations... NASSCOM has recommended a  five pronged agenda to achieve this."

Meeting key members of iSPIRT, Minister Prasad lauded the vibrancy of the software products industry and encouraged entrepreneurs to build products that would support the nation building efforts of the Government. He spoke of the Government’s commitment to the software product industry and challenged the industry to take products to the Tier 2 and 3 cities.
Sharad Sharma, Member of the Founders Circle of iSPIRT said: “The software product industry is an enabler for many other industries like Defense, Electronics and Communications. Naturally, a healthy software product industry brings endless possibilities to the country. The creation of 100,000 Software Product Companies in India can potentially lead to direct and indirect employment of 3.5 million people and the creation of $500+ billion in market value in a decade.”
Mohandas Pai, Chairman of the Manipal Group of Education, introduced 100 disrupters and showcased 10 disruptions in the software product space.