Hyderabad, March 21 2012: The Indian Government is poised to announce a national policy for electronics electronics policy, setting production target of $400 billion by 2020, says J Sathyanaryana, Secretary, in the government's Department of IT.
He was speaking on Wednesday at the inaugural function of IndiaSoft 2012, International IT exhibition and conferences, in Hyderabad. “The proposed policy will give the same importance to electronics manufacturing as is given in the case of software exports, so that this segment of the IT industry will get a boost and supplement and complement the overall exports from the country", he said, adding that it would mainly focus on five areas: creation of an enabling eco-system for manufacture of electronics, thrust on exports, stress on human resource development for meeting the needs of the industry, lay down quality standards and would ensure cyber security.

Sathyanaryana expected the current year to produce an IT turnover of $ 90 billion, domestic consumption and exports, combines. He said  31 mission modules had been set up to ensure that the benefits of cutting edge technologies in IT were reaching lay citizens. The government spending on e-governance is to be around $ 8 billion Twenty-eight mainline databases are being set up in different parts of the country and 1500 educational institutions are going to be linked to make access to information and knowledge easier. National Optical Fibre Network would connect 2.5 villages and would open up 100,000 information kiosks across the country to provide the base for the second sunrise revolution in IT, he added.

JK Dadoo, Joint Secretary, Department of Commerce, Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry added that the quantum of e-commerce in India would grow 20 times from present levels of $ 300 million to around $ 20 billion in 5-7 years, aided by the increasing internet penetration in the country.

Inaugurating the IndiaSoft 2012 International exhibition, Ponnala Lakshmaiah, Minister for Information Technology & Communications, for the state government of Andhra Pradesh urged that the IT industry to increasingly take advantage of the Offset Policy governing the defence imports to leverage the IT exports to the developed markets.
The policy allows India to export 30 percent of the total value of the defence imports from a particular country to that destination. This he said would give a great fillip to IT exports, particularly from the SME sector. Lakshmaiah said Andhra Pradesh exports close to Rs 35,000 crore every year and has become the third largest IT exporting city in the country. Till the end of 2011, Andhra Pradesh has created 279,000 direct jobs in the IT sector. One out of every third graduates passing out of educational institutions is from the state, he added.

IndiaSoft 2012 has brought together 400 foreign delegates and close to 200 Indian IT exhibitors to Hyderabad to witness 60 product launches, a record number.
Leading the increasing number of delegates who are seeking Indian IT partners was the Costa Rican Foreign Trade Minister Ms Anabel Gonzalez, who wanted India to help her country in laying an IT backbone to facilitate the IT revolution in the country. She also invited Indian investment in her country to serve India’s increasing IT exposure in the US and Latin American countries. “My country can be a springboard to Indian IT players to make their footprint at the expanding IT market in the Latin America,” she added.

Mauritius Information and Communication Technology Minister Tassarajen Pillay Chedumbrum said that close cultural ties between the two countries could be leveraged for greater IT penetration in his country. “Mauritius is undergoing an image makeover from a country known only for tourism and plantations. We are making conscious effort to develop our IT sector,” he added.

Representatives of countries like US, Australia, Brazil, CIS, EU, Africa and SAARC, are keenly participating at the two day event.