Govt sees no slowdown in IT sector

Brushing aside fears of a slowdown in the IT industry, the government on Thursday said the Indian IT-ITes/BPO (including hardware) sector's revenue is expected to grow at over 33 per cent in 2007-08.

In a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Communications and IT Shakeel Ahmad said there would be no recession in the IT industry in the coming year.

There was no immediate challenge to the Indian IT industry from China or other competing countries as per Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council, he said when asked if the country would lose its leadership in the sector to China and other countries due to lack of development planning by the government.

The export of IT-ITeS sector in 2006-07 stood at $31.3 billion and is estimated to grow at annual rate of 24-25 per cent, Ahmad said.

Replying to another query on postal department, the Minister said a proposal has been sent to the Cabinet for setting up of a Special Purpose Vehicle for optimum development and management of postal estates.

The Department of Posts had 1,871 plots lying vacant with a total area of 3.82 crore sq ft, as per information available in November 2007. The total estimated value of the said area of land stands at about Rs 654.81 crore (Rs 6.54 billion), the Minister said.