Govt plans Rs 1,000 cr fund for electronic devices biz

 Union Telecom and Information Technology (IT) Minister Kapil Sibal, on Tuesday, said the government would set up a fund worth Rs 1,000 crore as part of its electronics devices manufacturing policy envisaging creation of over 200 electronics clusters with a 10-year stable tax regime as incentive for it.

Speaking at the Nasscom Leadership Summit, he said the government will shortly enact a law to encourage electronics hardware manufacturing. He also informed that the government proposes to clear an Electronic Service Delivery Bill that will mandate all government organisations to deliver public services through the electronic mode. Nasscom exuded confidence saying the IT and BPO industry will clock double digit growth rate in the next financial year. President Som Mittal said the domestic software industry is “on track” to achieve its growth targets set for the current year. 

For the current financial year ending March 2012, the software and services export revenue is expected to grow at 16-18 per cent to $68-70 billion. The growth outlook for the domestic market is 15-17 per cent at Rs 90,000-Rs 92,000 crore for the current year. Nasscom expects the number of internet users in India to triple to 300 million over the next three years.

Sibal also ruled out any plan to censor social media, even as he affirmed that companies need to obey the law of the land. Sibal’s comments came in the backdrop of a Delhi court's order asking social and networking media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Google to remove objectionable contents.

“No government in the country will ever censor social media. But we need to make sure that everybody obeys the laws of the country. If the print media and visual media obey the laws, the social media can also obey the laws,” Sibal told reporters here after the inuguration of the three-day event.