IT sector presents budget wishlist to FM

In a first-ever exclusive pre-budget meeting with IT executives, finance minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said the sector’s role is very crucial to promote e-governance and boost manufacturing in the country.

In a first-ever exclusive pre-budget meeting with information technology (IT) executives, finance minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said the sector’s role is very crucial to promote e-governance and boost manufacturing in the country.

The meeting was attended by senior industry executives, including Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka, Wipro CEO Suresh Senapathy, HCL Technologies CEO Anil Chanana, TCS executive vice-president Phiroz Vandrevala, Nasscom president R Chandrashekhar, Flipkart CEO Sachin Bansal and Snapdeal CEO Kunal Bahl, among others.

Jaitley said the government is keen to leverage the inherent strength of the IT sector.

Some of the suggestions made by representatives of the IT industry, included tax incentives for building infrastructure for data centers and cloud services to ensure data security, as well as to have a big network of large software products’ companies within the country. More budgetary assistance for digital literacy, which would help in ensuring success for the country’s flagship “Digital India” programme, was also demaned.

Jaitley said large-scale production in the IT sector at competitive prices in India for the global market will create gainful employment and will help the country reap demographic dividend, increase purchasing power and expand markets.