Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on Friday unveiled a draft national policy on Information Technology that promises to enhance India's position as the global IT hub and use it as an engine for rapid, inclusive and sustainable growth in the national economy. The policy aims to make at least one individual in every household e-literate in ten years.

It promises to promote the IT industry in Tier II and Tier III cities and create a pool of 10 million additional skilled IT manpower by 2010. The IT sector currently employs over 2.5 million skilled people and it has been one of the major employment generators in the last two decades. The policy also proposes to encourage growth of indigenous demands and market, besides promoting further capture of the global market.

This policy comes on the heels of the draft national policy on electronics released by Sibal four days ago, envisaging creation of 28 million jobs by 2010 and an attempt to prevent the country becoming over-dependent on imports for meeting the domestic needs in the field of the growing electronics.

He told a Press conference here that the new IT policy will strengthen the regulatory and security framework for ensuring a secure cyberspace ecosystem. The draft Policy is available on the website of Department of Information Technology <www.mit.gov.in>, inviting comments and suggestions.

It promises to increase revenue from the IT industry from 88 billion dollars to 300 billion dollars by 2020. Pointing out significant contribution of the IT sector in the Indian economy's growth over the last decade, Sibal said 80 per cent of the 88 billion dollar revenue in 2010-11 came from exports.

He said India is well positioned to enhance and leverage its existing IT capabilities for a leadership role in the world as a "global IT power house." He also promised fiscal aid to small enterprises and start-ups in the key industrial sector to adopt IT in the value creation.

Thrust areas of the policy include:
-- Leverage to Internet, Web and mobile technologies for developing new products, technologies and businesses;

-- Integrate Internet based and mobile based delivery of services onto a common platform to enable seamless, ubiquitous, secure and personalised delivery of government and non-government services throughout the country;

--  Extend the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) and mandate provision of all Government services through electronic mode within a fixed time frame by enactment of the  Electronic Delivery of Services (EDS) Bill;

-- Enhance transparency, accountability, efficiency, reliability and decentralisation in Government and in particular, in delivery of public services; and

-- Facilitate development of content accessible in all Indian languages and thereby help bridge the digital divide.