Survey proposes 1 lakh service centres

The government has formulated a Rs 5,742 crore public-private partnership (PPP) proposal to establish one lakh common service centres (CSCs) in rural areas, which will serve not only as a front-end for most government services but also as a means to connect the citizens of rural India to the Internet.

Outlining this proposal in the Economic Survey 2006-07, the government has stated that the share of central government and state governments would be Rs 856 crore and Rs 793 crore respectively. The balance Rs 4,093 crore will be invested by the private sector.

The survey also notes that a proposal for the electronics and IT hardware manufacturing policy is under consideration which aims to rationalise the tariff structure on capital goods and inputs, unify manufacturing for domestic market and exports, facilitate registration of international patents, transfer state-of-the-art technology and enhance research and development.

Moreover, to ensure that the benefits of IT reach the common man, the government has initiated a move to make available tools and fonts in various Indian languages freely to the general public.

Tamil, Hindi and Telugu software tools and fonts have already been released. All Indian languages are expected to be covered in the next one year.

The IT Amendment Bill was introduced in Parliament on December 15, 2006. This proposes to put in place technology applications, security practices and procedures relating to such applications.

Furthermore, it addresses the issue of technological neutrality in IT laws as recommended by UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Signatures (enabling universal recognition of electronic signatures).

The survey acknowledges the contribution of Indian IT-enabled services and business process outsourcing (ITES-BPO) companies and their "fundamentally-powered value proposition in the international market."

The software and ITES exports from India grew from $12.9 billion (Rs 58,240 crore) in 2003-04 and is expected to touch $60-75 billion by 2010.

Indian companies are enhancing their global services delivery capabilities through a combination of greenfield initiatives, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, partnerships and alliances with local players.

This is enabling them to execute end-to-end delivery of new services. Global software giants such as Microsoft, Oracle and SAP, have established their captive development centres in India.

Moreover, the survey notes, as of December 2006, over 400 Indian companies have acquired quality certifications with 82 companies certified at SEI CMM Level 5 -"" higher than any other country in the world.

Incidentally, electronics hardware and computer software exports accounted for Rs 1,11,700 crore in 2005-06 while electronic products accounted for Rs 1,86,260 crore in 2005-06.

The total foreign direct investment (FDI) in electrical equipment (including computer software and electronics) from August 1991-2006 amounted to Rs 27,311 crore (17.54 per cent of the total inflow).

The survey admits, however, that "there have been no spectacular achievements in the hardware segment as in the case of the software segment of the IT sector." There has been a steady progress in production though, it adds.

The survey also points out that growth of the IT and ITES sector has had a salutary effect on the employment scenario "" from an estimated 284,000 in 1999-2000 to 1,287,000 in 2005-06. The increase in the number of employed person in the sector was as high as 230,000 in 2005-06 itself.

In addition, Indian IT-ITES is estimated to have helped create an additional 30 lakh job opportunities through indirect and induced employment in telecom, power, construction, facility management, IT transportation, catering and other services.