“The Schemes Proposed by Indian Government Are Definitely Helping Indian ICT Industry Vendors”

Indian ICT industry is rapidly growing and market players are continuously putting their efforts to avail the opportunity for their growth. But to utilize this huge opportunity, brands need great support from policy makers to deploy their reliable solutions swiftly. In an interaction, DT spoke with Satish Kumar V, CEO of EverestIMS Technologies. He gave insights about their expectations with government on existing huge opportunity.

DT: How do you see the support provided from government over well-being of Indian ICT industry?

Mr. Satish: Indian ICT infrastructure began with an era of limited connectivity and has evolved significantly to cater to a billion plus population. Today, the country can boast of a tele-density of 89 per cent supported by a tower network of over 450,000 towers as well as fibre network of over .125 million kilometers.

Government of India has a major role in accelerating the ICT industry of our country. With its significant support in introducing 3G, 4G and 5G speeds, India has witnessed a substantial growth in smart phone penetration and subscriptions. The schemes proposed by Indian government are definitely helping Indian ICT industry vendors to have a good exposure across country.

DT: Which major government policies or schemes are really helping market players to boost their growth?

Mr. Satish: The Government of India and TRAI have taken several key policy initiatives in recent years to provide an impetus to the ICT infrastructure sector. Jem portal initiative under e-Governance, MSME promotion schemes, GST, push for Online financial transactions, IT centric Smart Cities, expansion of FTTH for better last mile connectivity for providing converged services, promotion of deeper penetration of mobile connectivity coverage in order to bring even the remotest Indians under the coverage of welfare schemes, single window clearance schemes for industry promotion, Incubator schemes for promoting Startup eco-systems, increase in incentives for attracting global players to set-up local manufacturing and R&D centers, etc. has drawn massive attention for business to invest in assisting ICT industry.

All these have ensured that the focus on streamlining, process alignment, automation, role of software in modern day business (both government and private) is more pronounced now with wide spread adoption of Cloud & IoT technologies, Service oriented delivery models, etc.

DT: What are your suggestions / advise to policy makers to counter any existing business challenges in ICT market?

Mr. Satish: While continuing the current push mentioned above, further efforts are sought in the below mentioned areas-

• Software product companies have not been in the priority list. Complete focus has been on manufacturing sector. Any schemes for software products will surely address the current challenges of software companies which are contributing to Indian ICT industry Identification & promotion of brand India across the International markets promotes wide exposure for Indian vendors
• Building stronger economy that is immune (to the possible extent) to the volatility of global markets
• Enhancing scope, scale and quality of civil infrastructure, etc.
• Use of well-equipped IT infrastructure in ICT industry which can help a lot of IT & manufacturing companies accelerate their growth.