Kapil Sibal, the union minister of communications and information technology released the draft national policy on information technology, 2011 in the Capital on Friday. The draft policy envisages over three times increase in revenue from IT and ITES industry, while setting a revenue target of USD 300 billion by 2020. It also suggests measures for India to emerge as hub for language technology.

Speaking at the launch, Sibal said that information technology is a key driver of an increasingly knowledge based global economy, and given its current global position in the IT and ITES sector, India is well positioned to enhance and leverage its existing IT capabilities for a leadership role.

He further stated that the technology has transformational power, and it is a great leveler of opportunity within and across economies. With the right policies and investment in infrastructure, he said, we have the opportunity to strengthen and enhance our position as a global IT power-house. On the domestic front, use of IT in all sectors can transform our economy, enhance equity and help the nation to rapidly improve its development indices.

Sibal highlighted that the draft policy 2011 envisages to increase revenues of IT and ITES industry from USD 88 billion at present to USD 300 billion by 2020. He also pointed out at the significant contribution of the IT Sector to the growth of Indian economy over last decade which registered a growth rate of 8 per cent.

The proposed policy also aims at formulating fiscal and other incentives to attract investment in this sector in Tier II and Tier III cities. The Indian IT and ITES sector currently employs over 2.5 million skilled people and has been one of the major employment generators in the last two decades.

The focus of the IT policy is on deployment of ICT in all sectors of the economy and providing IT solutions to the world.  It aims to strengthen and enhance India’s position as the global IT hub and to use IT as an engine for rapid, inclusive and sustainable growth in the national economy. It intends to maximally leverage the power of ICT to help address the monumental economic and developmental challenges the country faces.