Software products, rather than services, are the need of the hour. India’s IT industry is currently valued at around $143 billion; this figure is expected to reach $350 billion by 2025, a scant nine years from now.
The upcoming National Policy on Software Products will put in place a set of guidelines that will help the government realise its vision of having software products account for $100 billion of GDP by 2025. The government is striving to promote a sustainable software products industry in India, one that will put the country on the global software products map.
Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad met with officials from the Department of Electronics and Information Technology last week, in order to review the latest notes regarding the upcoming policy.
According to a presentation accessed by Business Line:
“The aim is to create a conducive environment for creation of 10,000 technology start-ups to develop software products that are globally competitive and thereby generating direct and indirect employment for 3.5 million (35 lakh) by 2025”
Furthermore, the policy also aims to increase the Indian share in the global software products market tenfold by 2025, by promoting easy access for software products to the domestic and international markets.
Industry bodies such as NASSCOM and iSPIRT (Indian Software Product Industry Round Table) have been pushing for just such a regulation. “The government’s aim is to create a talent pool of 1 lakh professionals by 2025, conversant with nuances of software product development that can support the growth of the industry,” said an official upon being interviewed.