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Drop in piracy to triple Indian IT sector

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CIOL Bureau
New Update

NEW DELHI: A 10-point reduction in the current 74% software piracy rate in India would have a tremendous impact on the domestic front, enabling the IT sector (excluding software and services exports) to grow from $7.4 billion to $19.5 billion, according to a BSA-IDC study.

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“India, which is projected to see the second fastest IT growth in the global survey — could also nearly triple the size of its IT sector by 2009. A reduction in the software piracy by 10-points over four years can have a significant impact on India's economy. On top of an already impressive growth rate, it will add 115,000 jobs, contribute $5.9 billion to GDP, add $386 million in taxes and $8.2 billion in revenues to local vendors,” said Jeffrey Hardee, vice president and regional director, Asia, BSA.

The study found that the global IT sector, currently projected to grow by 33 percent between 2004 and 2009, could instead grow by 45 percent over the same period with a 10-point reduction in software piracy.

The study also concluded that four out of five countries would see greater than 30 percent IT sector growth with a piracy reduction.

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Countries with the highest piracy rates stand to gain the most through piracy reductions. Vietnam, China and Indonesia — countries with the highest piracy rates in Asia Pacific — would be the largest beneficiaries of piracy reductions.

China could potentially gain more than any other country in the world, tripling its already large IT sector.

With a 10-point piracy reduction, China could create 2.6 million new IT jobs in four years — as many IT jobs as the United States has created in 30 years.

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