Supply of goods to software technology parks will now be regarded as deemed exports provided they are manufactured in the country, Union commerce minister B B Ramaiah announced yesterday at the 15th annual session of the Manufacturers Association for Information Technology (MAIT).
Ramaiah said one of the main objectives of the new Exim policy for 1997-2002 was to accelerate the countrys transition to a globally-oriented economy, focussing on the information technology industry in particular.
He said that the government had tried to provide whatever the industry had been demanding in terms of an enabling environment for both manufacture and exports through reduction in export costs, fillip for electronic hardware and software technology park schemes, permission for on-line data communication for domestic tariff area (DTA) sales, use of computers for commercial training by software units and import of goods on line by software units from clients for a specified period.
The industry must aim to leapfrogging in the volume of its growth in turnover and exports, Ramaiah said.
Earlier speaking on the topic `IT agreement: Opportunity or threat-the secretary in the department of electronics, Shyamal Ghosh said the main weakness of the IT industry was that the manufacturing base was not strong, particularly in components. This is despite the fact that software capability and development of manpower are among the strengths of the domestic industry.
The hardware industry has witnessed a difficult time in the first two months of the current fiscal, showing an average growth of around 15 to 20 per cent. However, business has picked up towards the end of June with July showing high growth rates. This has resulted in more than 40 per cent growth for the April-July period, industry sources said.
