The Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the role of IT sector, be it hardware or software, is crucial in order to promote e-governance for empowering citizens. He said that the role of this sector is also important in promoting the inclusive and sustainable growth of the electronics, IT and ITeS industries and enhancing India's role in internet governance.
Jaitley said that at a larger scale, the role of IT sector is crucial for boosting manufacturing sector in the country.
Jaitley said that reviving manufacturing, diversifying its base and equipping it for robust long run expansion is one of the major challenges of our economic management in the next five years.
The Finance Minister was making his opening remarks during the Pre Budget Consultative Meeting with the IT (Hardware & Software) Groups here today.
Jaitley further said that the government introduced ‘Make in India’ initiative in this context which refers to the production in India at a competitive price with global quality standards.
The Finance Minister said that the idea is that large scale production at competitive price in India for the global market will create gainful employment and will help India reap demographic dividend, increase their purchasing power faster, and finally, with rising incomes will generate a huge market within India.
Jaitley said that the overall rapid growth of the section in recent years, including exports earnings of about USD 86 billion demonstrate sustained competitiveness and an ability of the sector to overcome structural deficiencies related to business and policy environment. He further said that the portfolio and capabilities of Indian IT/ITeS industry have significantly expanded, and is perhaps the only country other than the USA, with the capability of providing end to end services in IT, BPM, Software Products and Engineering, Research and Development and more recently in Internet and e-Commerce.
The Finance Minister said that the government is, therefore, keen to leverage the inherent strength of the IT sector as it charges the growth map for the country and would certainly take further policy and regulatory initiatives based on the inputs from the participants in today's meeting.
