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Our Bureau

Bangalore, Nov. 6 The Indian IT industry, which has shown healthy growth so far, must focus on R&D and creating sustainable products, rather than just limiting itself to low-end services, said Mr Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat.

Mr Modi was speaking at the 11th edition of the Bangalore IT.Biz, an ICT event organised by the Department of IT, BT and Science & Technology, Government of Karnataka, STPI Bangalore and MM Activ, which was inaugurated by Mr B.S. Yeddyurappa, Chief Minister of Karnataka.

The industry has been content to stay in the comfort zone of low value addition, said Mr Modi.

It is now facing competition from other countries such as China, the Philippines and Eastern European countries and must focus on innovation and re-inventing itself.

Most its revenue comes from low value addition jobs like manpower provisioning and low-end support services, he added.

Mr Modi also said the average productivity in the sector is far less, compared with that of the global leaders such as Hewlett-Packard Co. or Microsoft Corp.

What is needed is a leap of faith, a paradigm shift, and now having grown at a healthy note, the industry must show foresight, he added.

As a result of the global economic crisis, the industry is at a crossroad and must look at growth in the Indian market. There is large untapped potential in the domestic market, which can provide the basis for sustainable revenue model, Mr Modi added.

Bangalore IT.Biz, a new name for the erstwhile Banglore IT.in, has seen a shift to a more business to business approach, said Mr Ashok Kumar C.Manoli, Principal Secretary to Government Department of IT, BT and S&T, Government of Karnataka.

Rather than just concentrating on the exhibition, the focus has shifted to how the event can provide opportunity to the participants to lock-in business, Mr Manoli added.

The number of participants in the exhibition has increased to 108 from about 40 in the previous year, he added. Gujarat is the partner state for the three-day event, and the partner country is Mexico.

Mr Manoli said IT exports from Karnataka for the first two quarters of the fiscal was Rs 15,000 crores, compared with Rs 13,500 crores in the year-ago period. In the last fiscal the total IT exports had been Rs 56,000 crores.

For the next two quarter, one would have to wait and see, he added.

More Stories on : Events | Karnataka

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