TN registers impressive growth in IT: CII Survey  

CHENNAI: Tamil

Nadu has registered an impressive performance in the Information Technology

industry by increasing its revenue and the overseas billing by 20 per cent and

20-30 per cent respectively, reveals the findings of the Business Outlook Survey

conducted by the Confederation

of Indian Industry (CII) - Southern Region.






CII carried out the survey to analyze the performance of the top five sectors of
the Southern Region States during October 2005 - March 2006 and provide an

outlook for the first six months of the fiscal year 2006-`07 and identify issues

and concerns.






The key sectors as per the contribution to the GSDP, which stood at an
impressive Rs 1,88,921 crore in 2004-2005, identified in Tamil

Nadu are: Automotive and Auto components, Information Technology Textile

Industry, Cement Industry and Chemical and Fertilizer Industry.






It has been an impressive performance by the Information Technology industry
during the last half of the fiscal 2005-2006. Apart from the increase in

revenues and the overseas billing, there has also been a rise of 25-30 per cent

in employment generation.






The sector is expected to perform well in the first half of the fiscal
2006-2007. The growth in overseas billing will be 30 per cent and the growth in

the revenues will be 25-30 per cent.






The IT industry points to the erratic power supply and poor quality roads as
some of the major hurdles. The industry urges the government to abolish Fringe

Benefit Tax (FBT) and appeals to the educational institutions to create course

curriculum that would meet the industry requirements.






However, the industry faces severe infrastructural bottlenecks such as:
unreliable power supply, poor transportation facilities combined with poor

quality of roads, scarcity of water, and ineffective facilities. In this

context, improving the infrastructure is vital to the continued growth of the

sector.