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Nasscom presents 10-point wish list on IT enabled services

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CIOL Bureau
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CHENNAI: The National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom)

on Thursday presented a 10-point call for action to the government and industry

to help India emerge as a sustainable hub for IT enabled services. A panel of

international and Indian experts drafted the action plan based on discussions

and debates over the two-day Nasscom IT Enabled Services 2001 conference held in

Chennai that concluded today. Nasscom will present the action plan to the IT and

Telecom Ministry in New Delhi next month.

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The conference received record participation with over 800 delegates

registering for the event. Notably, over 40% of the participating delegates had

come from all over the country, giving it a truly national flavor. Encouraged by

the response, the industrial body has decided to conduct similar events in

Chennai, focusing on different aspects of the IT sector.

"The IT Enabled sector has recorded its highest ever growth of 70%.

Nasscom projections further indicate that it has the potential to emerge as the

much required catalyst to boost the growth of the Indian IT industry," said

Arun Seth (chairman program committee) of IT enabled services sector.

The sector has already caught the attention of the international and domestic

investment community as reflected by the $300 million that was invested. We are

confident that this inflow will eventually reach $500 million in the next 12

months, he said.

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Some of the measures presented in the Call for Action are:

1. Commencement of immediate dialogue between the government and the industry

to clearly define the parameters for each segment of the IT enabled services

sector. This will remove ambiguity with regard to income tax exemption

applicable to the ITES units

2. Applicability of international standards in telecom infrastructure

including:

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* Inter- connectivity of international call centers.

* Setting up of international gateways for captive need in IT enabled

services.

* Permit for IT enabled industry to freely purchase bandwidth from

international markets.

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* Services like toll free numbers to encourage domestic call center

activities.

3. Setting up of a single window clearance for IT enabled services industry

4. Support from local authorities and state governments to ensure ease of

operations and start up assistance for IT enabled services units.

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5. Flexibility to call centers to merge domestic and international business

in the same facility

6. Setting up of IT enabled service training infrastructure and involvement

of ITIs and polytechnics for call center management and degree level courses for

IT enabled services industry

7. Initiation of 'One' industry standard for Indian IT enabled services

industry as a tool, to certify quality and global standards

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8. Creation of an 'India Brand' marketing fund by the government and

industry, for promoting India as a preferred destination for the IT enabled

services sector

9. Establishment of a $100 million VC fund for the IT enabled services sector

10. Special incentives to promote entrepreneurs and tele-working for women in

the IT enabled sector.

Reflecting on the progress made at the conference, Arun Seth said, "The

discussions over the past two days has made it clear that we need to start

looking at this industry as a profession, rather than a part time activity. To

build India into a globally competitive and sustainable destination for IT

enabled services, the industry and the government will have to work together to

overcome the challenges in areas like standards, infrastructure, quality and

human resources."

As a first step, we will work with the government and educational institutes

to introduce structured courses and certifications for employees in this sector.

Enabled with the requisite skill sets, this would help ensure that India

achieves its projected target of generating 1 million jobs by 2008 in the IT

enabled sector, he said. Commenting on the Call for Action Agenda, he said,

"Nasscom has recently constituted a Call Center Forum to give direction and

boost this segment."

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