National Policy on Software Products-2019 gets nod

The Union Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, on February 28 approved the National Policy on Software Products-2019 to develop the nation as a software product hub

February 28, 2019

The Government has budgeted over US$215 million for a Software Product Development Fund (SPDF) and a Research and Innovation fund

The Policy will lead to the formulation of schemes, initiatives and projects for development of the Software products sector in the country

Government of India is aiming to set up a software Industry with valuation of US$70-80 billion, and providing employment of 3.5 million by 2025

Indian IT-BPM players are focussing on artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, and blockchain

The Union Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, on February 28 approved the National Policy on Software Products-2019 to develop the nation as a software product hub. The Government has budgeted over US$215 million to implement programmes and schemes envisaged under the policy over the period of seven years. The funding will be divided amid a Software Product Development Fund (SPDF) and a Research and Innovation fund. The Policy will lead to the formulation of schemes, initiatives and projects for development of the Software products sector in the country. India has gained global fame for its IT-BPM industry that has evolved over the years to meet the world’s technological demands.

Hence, India’s IT-BPM export rose to US$129 billion during fiscal 2017-18, from US$107 billion two years earlier. The software product ecosystem is characterized by innovations, Intellectual Property (IP) creation and large value addition that leads to increase in cross-sector productivity, income, employment and entrepreneurship. The policy augers wells for R&D into emerging technologies, while aligning with the Digital India, Startup India, Skill India and Make in India programmes. The police’s objectives include:

To create a sustainable Indian software product industry, driven by intellectual property (IP), leading to a 10-fold increase in India share of the Global Software product market by 2025
To nurture 10,000 technology startups in software product industry, including 1000 startups in Tier-II and Tier-III locations, generating 3.5 million direct and indirect employment by 2025
To create a talent pool for software product industry through
(i) Up-skilling of over 1 million IT professionals
(ii) Training of 100,000 school/college students
(iii) Creating 10,000 specialized professionals
To build a cluster-based, innovation-driven ecosystem by developing 20 sectoral and strategically located software clusters with ICT infrastructure, marketing, incubation, R&D/testbeds
To evolve and monitor programmes for the implementation of this policy, National Software Products Mission will be set up with participation from Government, Academia and Industry

Indian IT Industry has evolved from service-focussed sector to an innovation-driven one through new research, sustainable IP development, improved commercialisation, promotion of technology start­ups and specialized skill sets. Government of India is aiming to set up a software Industry with a valuation of US$70-80 billion, and providing direct and indirect employment of around 3.5 million by 2025. The Government has envisaged IT-BPM revenue of US$350 billion by 2025, from US$167 billion in 2017-18. To achieve this growth, Indian IT-BPM players are investing in reskilling, focussing on tools such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, and blockchain.

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