The Indian Information & Communications Technology (ICT) market is estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.3 per cent to reach $24.3 billion by 2011 from the 2006 level of  $9.63 billion, research firm Gartner said on Wednesday.

The sector’s growth, which was estimated to be nearly two per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), will be driven by investments on building and consolidating the basic IT infrastructure, in addition to small and midsize businesses (SMBs), increasingly leveraging technology to drive business growth and efficiency.

Gartner said hardware spend share was estimated to be at 50.9 per cent in 2011 from 54.9 per cent in 2006 from the total kitty of  $24.3 billion with the CAGR estimated at 18.5 per cent.

IT spend

The software expenditure requirement will be five per cent of the targeted amount in 2011 down from 5.9 per cent, with the CAGR being 17.8 per cent. The services segment however will see a tremendous growth in the share touching 44.1 per cent from 39.3 per cent, registering a 23.2 per cent CAGR.

Based on the findings of the Gartner EXP Worldwide Survey of CIOs, Indian firms reported stronger than average IT budget increases of around 13 per cent as against the global average of 3.3 per cent for 2008.

This increased spending by Indian CIOs is directed primarily towards building new business capabilities, with 30 per cent of IT spend allocated for business growth and 19 per cent towards business transformation.