Information technology in India

This article is about IT in India. For an overview of modern science and technology in India, see Science and technology in the Republic of India.

The Indian Information Technology industry accounts for a 5.9% of the country's GDP and export earnings as of 2009, while providing employment to a significant number of its tertiary sector workforce. More than 2.3 million people are employed in the sector either directly or indirectly, making it one of the biggest job creators in India and a mainstay of the national economy. In March 2009, annual revenues from outsourcing operations in India amounted to US$60 billion and this is expected to increase to US$225 billion by 2020. The most prominent IT hub is IT capital Bangalore. The other emerging destinations are Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, NCR, Jaipur and Kolkata. Technically proficient immigrants from India sought jobs in the western world from the 1950s onwards as India's education system produced more engineers than its industry could absorb. However, there are severe skills shortage among engineers, especially who lack in soft skill and technical skill, as a result engineering graduates remain unemployed after being pass out from college or university. India's growing stature in the information age enabled it to form close ties with both the United States of America and the European Union.

Each year India produces roughly 500,000 engineers in the country, out of them 25% to 30% possessed both technical competency and English language skills, although 12% of India's population can speak in English out of 100. India developed a number of outsourcing companies specializing in customer support via Internet or telephone connections. By 2009, India also has a total of 37,160,000 telephone lines in use, a total of 506,040,000 mobile phone connections, a total of 81,000,000 Internet users—comprising 7.0% of the country's population, and 7,570,000 people in the country have access to broadband Internet— making it the 12th largest country in the world in terms of broadband Internet users. Total fixed-line and wireless subscribers reached 543.20 million as of November, 2009. See Communications in India.

Formative years (till 1991)

The Indian Government acquired the EVS EM computers from the Soviet Union, which were used in large companies and research laboratories. Tata Consultancy Services—established in 1968 by the Tata Group—were the country's largest software producers during the 1960s. As an outcome of the various policies of Jawaharlal Nehru (office: 15 August 1947 – 27 May 1964) the economically beleaguered country was able to build a large scientific workforce, second in numbers only to that of the United States of America and the Soviet Union. On 18 August 1951 the minister of education Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, inaugurated the Indian Institute of Technology at Kharagpur in West Bengal. Possibly modeled after the Massachusetts Institute of Technology these institutions were conceived by a 22 member committee of scholars and entrepreneurs under the chairmanship of N. R. Sarkar.

Relaxed immigration laws in the United States of America (1965) attracted a number of skilled Indian professionals aiming for research. By 1960 as many as 10,000 Indians were estimated to have settled in the US. Kapur (2006) The reason for this immigration was rooted in India producing more engineers through its education system—expanded during the 1950s—than its industry was able to absorb. By the 1980s a number of engineers from India were seeking employment in other countries. In response, the Indian companies realigned wages to retain their experienced staff. In the Encyclopedia of India, Kamdar (2006) reports on the role of Indian immigrants (1980 - early 1990s) in promoting technology-driven growth:

The National Informatics Centre was established in March 1975. The inception of The Computer Maintenance Company (CMC) followed in October 1976. Between 1977-1980 the country's Information Technology companies Tata Infotech, Patni Computer Systems, and Wipro, had become visible. The 'microchip revolution' of the 1980s had convinced both Indira Gandhi and her successor Rajiv Gandhi that electronics and telecommunications were vital to India's growth and development. MTNL underwent technological improvements. Between 1986-1987, the Indian government embarked upon the creation of three wide-area computer networking schemes: INDONET (intended to serve the IBM mainframes in India), NICNET (the network for India's National Informatics Centre), and the academic research oriented Education and Research Network (ERNET).

1991–2001

Regulated VSAT links became visible in 1985. Desai (2006) describes the steps taken to relax regulations on linking in 1991:

Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) introduced Gateway Electronic Mail Service in 1991, the 64 kbit/s leased line service in 1992, and commercial Internet access on a visible scale in 1992. Election results were displayed via National Informatics Centre's NICNET.

The Indian economy underwent economic reforms in 1991, leading to a new era of globalization and international economic integration. Economic growth of over 6% annually was seen between 1993-2002. The economic reforms were driven in part by significant the internet usage in the country. The new administration under Atal Bihari Vajpayee—which placed the development of Information Technology among its top five priorities— formed the Indian National Task Force on Information Technology and Software Development.

Wolcott & Goodman (2003) report on the role of the Indian National Task Force on Information Technology and Software Development:

The New Telecommunications Policy, 1999 (NTP 1999) helped further liberalize India's telecommunications sector. The Information Technology Act 2000 created legal procedures for electronic transactions and e-commerce.

Throughout the 1990s, another wave of Indian professionals entered the United States. The number of Indian Americans reached 1.7 million by 2000. This immigration consisted largely of highly educated technologically proficient workers. Within the United States, Indians fared well in science, engineering, and management. Graduates from the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) became known for their technical skills. The success of Information Technology in India not only had economic repercussions but also had far-reaching political consequences. India's reputation both as a source and a destination for skilled workforce helped it improve its relations with a number of world economies. The relationship between economy and technology—valued in the western world—facilitated the growth of an entrepreneurial class of immigrant Indians, which further helped aid in promoting technology-driven growth.

2001–present

Infosys Media Centre in Bangalore.

Millenium Tower in Kolkata, Salt Lake Sector-5, a mojor IT hub in the city.

Tidel Park—one of the largest software parks in Asia—was set up on the July 4, 2000 in Chennai, to aid the growth of Information Technology in Tamil Nadu.

India is now one of the biggest IT capitals in the modern world.

The economic effect of the technologically inclined services sector in India—accounting for 40% of the country's GDP and 30% of export earnings as of 2006, while employing only 25% of its workforce—is summarized by Sharma (2006):

Today, Bangalore is known as the Silicon Valley of India and contributes 33% of Indian IT Exports. India's second and third largest software companies are head-quartered in Bangalore, as are many of the global SEI-CMM Level 5 Companies.

And Mumbai too has its share of IT companies once that are established as well as start-ups, and these include Reliance, TCS, Intelli-Flex, Shine, Naukri, Jobspert etc. and these IT and dot com companies are ruling the roost of Mumbai's relatively high octane industry of Information Technology.

Such is the growth in investment and outsourcing, it was revealed that Cap Gemini will soon have more staff in India than it does in its home market of France with 21,000 personnel+ in India.

On 25 June 2002 India and the European Union agreed to bilateral cooperation in the field of science and technology. A joint EU-India group of scholars was formed on 23 November, 2001 to further promote joint research and development. India holds observer status at CERN while a joint India-EU Software Education and Development Center is due at Bangalore.

India's IT industry (USD bn) [Source:NASSCOM]

Particulars	FY 2004	FY 2005	FY 2006	FY 2007E
IT Services	10.4	13.5	17.8	23.7
- Exports	7.3	10.0	13.13	18.1
- Domestic	3.1	3.5	4.5	5.6
ITES-BPO	3.4	5.2	7.2	9.5
- Exports	3.1	4.6	6.3	8.3
- Domestic	0.3	0.6	0.9	1.2
Engineering services, R&D and Software products	2.9	3.9	5.3	6.5
- Exports	2.5	3.1	4.0	4.9
- Domestic	0.4	0.7	1.3	1.6
Hardware	5.0	5.9	7.0	8.2
Total IT industry	21.6	28.4	37.4	47.8
- Exports	13.4	18.2	24.1	31.9
- Domestic	8.3	10.2	13.2	15.9

Top Eight IT Hubs in India

Ranking	City/Region	Description
1	Bangalore	Popularly known as the capital of the Silicon Valley of India is currently leading in Information Technology Industries in India.
2	Chennai	It is also called as India's second silicon valley. The TIDEL park situated here is one of the largest in Asia.
3	Hyderabad	Hyderabad which has good infrastructure and good government support is also a good technology base in India.
4	Jaipur	This rapidly growing industrial hub houses a lot of IT and BPO giants. With Genpact, Infosys, Deutsche Bank and Connexions IT services already there, Jaipur also plans to have the largest IT SEZ in Inida which is being built by Mahindra under the Mahindra World City on Jaipur-Mumbai NH 8.
5	NCR	The National Capital Region of India comprising Delhi, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad are having ambitious projects and are trying to do every possible thing for this purpose.
6	Pune	The booming city is the home to a good number of Software companies.
7	Kolkata	Kolkata which is slowly becoming a major IT hub in near future. Some of the well known technological corporations are situated.
8	Mumbai	This is one city that has seen tremendous growth in IT and BPO industry. TCS,Patni, WNS and other companies are headquartered here.

See also

• EKA (supercomputer)
• PARAM
• Digit (magazine)

Further reading

• Alexander, Steve, E-Commerce. (2006: from Computers and Information Systems), Encyclopedia Britannica 2008.
• Chand, Vikram K. (2006), Reinventing public service delivery in India: Selected Case Studies, Sage Publications, ISBN 0761934898.
• Desai, Ashok V. (2006), "Information and other Technology Development", Encyclopedia of India (vol. 2) edited by Stanley Wolpert, pp. 269-273, Thomson Gale, ISBN 0684313510.
• Kamdar, Mira (2006), "Indo -U.S. Relations, Cultural Exchanges in", Encyclopedia of India (vol. 2) edited by Stanley Wolpert, pp. 236-239, Thomson Gale, ISBN 0684313510.
• Kapur, Devesh (2006), "Diaspora" in Encyclopedia of India (vol. 1) edited by Stanley Wolpert, pp. 328-331, Thomson Gale, ISBN 0684313502.
• Ketkar, Prafulla (2006), "European Union, Relations with (Science and technology)", Encyclopedia of India (vol. 2) edited by Stanley Wolpert, pp. 48-51, Thomson Gale, ISBN 0684313510.
• Nanda, B. R. (2006), "Nehru, Jawaharlal", Encyclopedia of India (vol. 3) edited by Stanley Wolpert, pp. 222-227, Thomson Gale, ISBN 0684313529.
• Rothermund, Dietmar (2006), "Andhra Pradesh", Encyclopedia of India (vol. 1) edited by Stanley Wolpert, pp. 43-44, Thomson Gale, ISBN 0684313502.
• Sharma, Jagdish (2006), "Diaspora: History of and Global Distribution", Encyclopedia of India (vol. 1) edited by Stanley Wolpert, pp. 331-336, Thomson Gale, ISBN 0-684-31350-2.
• Sharma, Shalendra D. (2006), "Globalization", Encyclopedia of India (vol. 2) edited by Stanley Wolpert, pp. 146-149, Thomson Gale, ISBN 0684313510
• Vrat, Prem (2006), "Indian Institutes of Technology", Encyclopedia of India (vol. 2) edited by Stanley Wolpert, pp. 229-231, Thomson Gale, ISBN 0684313510.
• Wolcott, P. & Goodman, S. E. (2003), Global Diffusion of the Internet – I India: Is the Elephant Learning to Dance?, Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 11: 560-646.

External links

• India's Top IT Companies 2007, D&B Industry Research Service.
• Kanellos, Michael (2005), India's renaissance , CNET News.com.
• India’s Information Technology Industry, Indian Embassy to the United States of America, Government of India.
• India technology news
• Database of small-medium IT companies in India, Precision Consultants
• Computer caste Photo documentary on social aspects of IT revolution in India. By photographer Wim Klerkx, 2001/2002.