ICT, The Key to Growth in India: Myth or Reality

Abstract

Today India is fast approaching to become the fifth largest economy in the world after the US, Japan, China and Germany. A close examination of data shows that ICT (Information and Communications Technologies) has been playing an important and instrumental role in it. Its contribution in total GDP has increased steeply from 3.2 per cent in 2004-05 to 9 percent in 2015-16. Despite the severe recession in 2009, Indian Information Technology- Business Process Outsourcing (IT-BPO) industry was able to sustain its trend of high growth rate. For instance, in 2015-16, the aggregate revenue of IT-BPO industry grew by over 11.8 per cent reaching to US $ 112.6 billion.  Similarly, with a 11.2 percent growth rate, software and services exports (including ITES-BPO exports) increased significantly.