With the government’s approval for 100 per cent foreign direct investment in e-commerce and tax exemption to such transactions, Internet-based business is expected to rise 33- fold in the next two years. By 2002, it is estimated to touch Rs 15,000 crore from the present level of Rs 450 crore.

According to the mid-term appraisal of the Ministry of Information Technology, summarising the ministry’s performance in the first-half of the Ninth Plan, the e-commerce business, which was worth 131 crore in 1998-99, will touch the Rs 3,500-mark by the end of 2001.

This real growth in e-commerce, however, will greatly depend on factors’ like telecom infrastructure, increase in personal computer and Internet penetration, the appraisal points out.

Regarding the total size of the IT industry, the appraisal reiterates the predictions made by the Mc-Kinsey study, conduced in 1999. Accordingly, by 2008, the revenue from IT business will go up to $87 billion from the present $4 billion.

India’s IT strength lies in the growing bank of 4.1 million technical workers and the second largest number of English speaking professionals, the report points out. However, poor laboratory infrastructure, shortage of faculty and resources are major bottlenecks in improving the manpower quality.

In a bid to capitalise on the software prowess that Indian industry offers, the government is trying to provide a conducive environment and better infrastructure. The twelve earth station set up under the ministry’s Software Technology Park scheme have facilitated high speed data communication.

Given the sops offered by the government to the information technology-enabled services, the revenue thereof is expected to touch $17-128 billion mark by providing employment to nearly 11 million people. While the ministry is unlikely to meet the production target of Rs 1,38,350 crore set for the terminal year of the Plan, it is comfortably placed as far as achieving the export target of Rs 48,930 crore is concerned, thanks to software exports.

The ministry has also identified action points to be followed in the later part of the Ninth Plan. These include implementation of the second and third report of the National IT task force which focuses on development, manufacturer and export of infotech hardware and long-term national IT policy.

Encouraging IT development in Indian languages, proliferation of distance education through the Internet, upgradation of regional engineering colleges to the level of IITs and large scale of application of IT by state governments and public utility services, are some of the other issues that will act as points of priority for the Information Technology Ministry during the later part of the plan.