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BANGALORE, INDIA: Karnataka Chief Minister B.S.Yeddyurappa said that ICT would drive the growth of the economic growth of the country in the coming decade too and his government will continue giving all support to the IT sector in the state.
While inaugurating the BangaloreIT.biz, the three-day flagship event of the ICT sector in the country, here on Thursday, he said that the IT potential of Karnataka will not slow down, though the software export may come down owing to the global economic meltdown.
"Indian IT-BPO sector has an inherent strength to fight against the odds," he said.
"The government will lend all support to the graduate students from the non-IT stream in soft skills to support the sector."
The Chief Minister also provided a blueprint of expanding the IT industry into the tier-2 cities of the state as well.
But it was Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi who virtually captured the audience with his speech showcasing the potential of Gujarat.
After inaugurating the exhibition he said that the Indian IT industry has brought tremendous recognition for the country though it is younger compared to many other industries.
"Today more than two million young Indians are employed in the IT sector and contribute over US$ 60 billion to the country's economy," he said. "It is expected that by 2010, the software and services revenue will be of the order of US$ 73 million."
Highlighting the potential of Gujarat as a secure investment destination Modi invited the IT industry to set shop in Gujarat. The state is organizing a global investors' summit in January 2009 to attract more investments.
Pointing out the brainpower of India, he said Indian IT should show foresight. "Why cannot we develop MS Windows in India, or a Google or a Yahoo? If an Indian could develop Hotmail, and given that 30 per cent of Windows developers may well be Indians in any case, the task does not look all that difficult," he asked.
Gujarat is the partner state in the event whereas Mexico is the partner country.
The 11th edition of the event is being organized by the Department of IT/BT, Science and Technology, Govt. of Karnataka in association with STPI Bangalore.
The prime focus of BangaloreIT.biz is 'IT for B2B'.
This year, around 100 companies are participating in the exhibition that showcases the cross-section of the IT and allied sectors. This is much less compared to the participation in previous years.
Apart from the exhibition, the event will also have many brainstorming sessions, conferences, workshops, roundtables, CEO conclave and Bangalore IT Power Golf Tourney.
