Indian state-run firms spent $3.1 bn on IT: Study

More than two-thirds of the total spending will be led by the federal government, with states accounting for 22 percent and local governments for another 11 percent says the study on public sector IT opportunities in India by the market research firm.

The Springboard report provides a detailed coverage of public sector market dynamics in the, including the buying process for key segments like healthcare, education, defence and public safety, says niche publishing house CyberMedia.

"The re-election of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government will spur further investments in e-governance projects, including $5 billion national e-governance plan," said Nilotpal Chakravarti, senior research analyst at Springboard.

He said the government's strong commitment to improve the delivery system in by leveraging information and communication technologies would propel investments by the public sector and offer significant opportunities for vendors eying this high-potential space.

Projects like national ID cards, defence tactical communication system and providing computer and broadband access to schools across the country are forecast to act as further drivers to the growth of India's public sector spending in the industry.

The report also notes that education is the biggest individual market segment in terms of spending with 11 percent-share of total spending. Defence and public safety and taxation and finance round up the list of top three segments.

Hardware corners half the spend, while services has a bigger share than software.
The current challenges vendors face include slow decision-making process, bureaucratic delays, complex bidding procedures and an price-sensitive market.

On the other hand, end-users, primarily the citizens, face challenges due to lack of transparency and efficiency in government services, lack of integration among different state-run agencies and poor mechanisms of complaint handling.