Centre changes strategy to stay competitive globally in IT sector
May 23, 2012 at 10:13 am | Posted in Additional business, Infrastructure, New Business, The Market | Comments Off on Centre changes strategy to stay competitive globally in IT sectorhttp://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2999469.ece
Centre changes strategy to stay competitive globally in IT sector
SANDEEP JOSHI
To promote sector’s growth, it increases IT adoption within country
Competition to India’s information technology and IT-enabled services (ITeS) companies from other cost-effective nations and protectionist moves of some key markets like the U.S. have caught the attention of the government. As a result, the government is not only changing its strategy to stay competitive globally but also taking initiatives to promote growth of the sector by increasing IT adoption within the country.
“Some of the challenges faced by the IT and ITeS sector include increasing competition from other countries with incentivised low costs, rising cost in India with wage-push inflation, increasing costs of relevant talent and skilled personnel, infrastructure constraints with over 90 per cent of risks like currency fluctuations and security, both physical and data related, and rising protectionists sentiments in key markets,” the Economic Survey 2011-12 said.
As per industry estimates, India’s IT and BPO sector (excluding hardware) revenues were $87.6 billion in 2011-2012 (a growth of 14.8 per cent) – $68.7 billion exports and $19 billion domestic, while it generated direct employment for nearly 2.8 million people and indirect for around 8.9 million people.
As a proportion of national GDP, IT and ITeS sector revenues have grown from 1.2 per cent in 1997-98 to around 7.5 per cent in 2011-12.
“Consistent demand from the U.S., which increased its share from 61.5 per cent to 62 per cent, characterised 2011-12. Emerging markets of the Asia Pacific and the rest of the world also contributed to overall growth,” the Survey pointed out.
Referring to future strategy for the sector, the Survey said the government had been a key catalyst for increased IT adoption – through sector reforms that encouraged IT acceptance, National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), and the Unique Identification Development Authority of India (UIDAI) programme that created large-scale IT infrastructure and promoted corporate participation.
Talking about electronics hardware production, the Survey said it was expected to grow by 27.6 per cent in 2011-12 and cross Rs.1.55-lakh crore ($33 billion). Electronics hardware exports is expected to grow by 12.8 per cent and cross Rs.47,090 crore ($10 billion) in 2011-12 as against Rs.41,721 core ($8.86 billion) in 2010-11. In its recently released draft, the National Policy on Electronics (NPE), the government projected that the electronics system design and manufacturing industry was likely to reach a turnover of $400 billion by 2020, involving investment of about $100 billion, besides creating 28 million jobs.
Aakash’s next could be Aadhar apps
May 18, 2012 at 1:56 pm | Posted in Additional business, New Business, The Market | Comments Off on Aakash’s next could be Aadhar appshttp://www.indianexpress.com/news/aakashs-next-could-be-aadhar-apps/920473/
Aakash’s next could be Aadhar apps
Among those in queue for the Human Resource Development Ministry’s Aakash tablet is the Unique Identity Authority of India that issues Aadhar numbers. It is considering a switch to the inexpensive gadget.
A team from the HRD Ministry recently demonstrated before UIDAI officials how easily the Aakash tablet can be used for data verification and how its applications can be developed to support Aadhar-related work. The UIDAI currently uses expensive, micro-ATMs for biometric authentication.
“We are definitely looking at a collaboration with the HRD Ministry on Aakash. While a micro-ATM costs around Rs 15,0000-20,000, the Aakash tablet is said to be under Rs 3,000 each which will considerably reduce our expenditure,” a highly placed official said.
Micro-ATMs are handheld devices for biometric authentication that can help with cash deposit and withdrawal besides balance inquiry and remittances.
The HRD ministry confirmed that UIDAI is interested in the Aakash tablet; the new, upgraded version of the tablet for which bids will be invited next month will factor in their requirements.
The HRD Ministry plans to use the Aadhar number in the school system by embossing the number on certificates awarded to students. This, they feel, will help track student attendance, track retention of students, monitor entitlements and check for other discrepancies. A pilot project has already been initiated in districts of Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal and it will be extended to Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Top 200 IT cos log $84 bn revenue
August 2, 2011 at 7:48 am | Posted in New Business, Questions, The Market | Comments Off on Top 200 IT cos log $84 bn revenueFact-
According to an IE report the IT sector in India is booming again.
Question-
How was this possible.
What role did UIDAI play in this upsurge.
Why is the Indian state redistributing money to this failed sector.
Why is the money not invested in other sectors, especially labor intensive sectors that benefits a lot of small enterprises like agriculture or handlooms or iron smithry or brass tool and object making or tannery or semi precious jewels or public health.
Why is the Indian state seems to benefiting few people over others.
Why is Infosys on top now.
Is that just a coincidence or there is a relationship to the fact that Nandan Nilekani its former boss is sitting smugly in Delhi and manning over UIDAI
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/top-200-it-cos-log-84-bn-revenue/826056/0
Top 200 IT cos log $84 bn revenue
The top 200 IT companies in India logged a combined revenue of USD 84 billion (Rs 384,250 crore) to achieve an average growth rate of 25 per cent in 2010-11, the highest in the past four years, according to a survey.
The revenues of these companies stood at Rs 307,126 crore in 2009-10 and Rs 289,093 crore in 2008-09.
The combined revenue of the top 20 IT companies was USD 54 billion (Rs 247,808 crore) in 2010-11, also representing a growth of 25 per cent. This is significantly higher than the 8 per cent growth recorded in 2009-10 on the back of revenues of Rs 198,017 crore.
The 2010-11 growth surpasses the 24 per cent growth witnessed in 2007-08, the year before the slowdown, according to the annual research findings on the Indian IT industry by Dataquest, the flagship journal of specialty publishers CyberMedia.
Each of the top 20 IT companies earned over USD 1 billion in 2010-11, together posting revenues of USD 54 billion (Rs 247,808 crore), contributing 64 per cent to the top 200 companies’ revenue.
According to the findings, the top five Indian IT companies in 2010-11 were TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HP and Cognizant, with revenues of Rs 33,112 crore (25 per cent growth over last year), Rs 25,997 crore (22 per cent), Rs 24,899 crore (13 per cent), Rs 23,227 crore (30 per cent) and Rs 21,393 crore (37 per cent), respectively.
Wipro, which recorded the slowest growth in the top five, surrendered the number two slot to Infosys after six years, the findings said.
The number six slot went to the Indian subsidiary of 100-year-old global tech behemoth IBM (revenues Rs 14,132 crore, year-on-year growth of 14 per cent)
The two companies founded by Shiv Nadar — software major HCL Technologies and hardware firm HCL Infosystems – posted revenues of Rs 14,111 crore (28 per cent growth) and Rs 12,137 crore (2 per cent), respectively, to bag the number seven and number eight slots in the list.
Two product distribution companies, Ingram Micro and Redington, with revenues of Rs 9,766 crore (35 per cent) and Rs 9,274 crore (32 per cent), bagged the number 9 and number 10 slots.
The survey notes that significant leadership changes have taken place at the senior levels in nearly one-third of the top 200 IT companies.
“Very rarely has a more fundamental change swept across the Indian IT industry in the past,” Dataquest Editor Shyamanuja Das observed.
As many as seven of the Top 20 companies — TCS, Wipro, Cognizant, HCL Infosystems, Accenture, Microsoft and Oracle — effected changes in their top leadership, while a leadership change at Infosys would come through this month.
While Mahindra Satyam has made a re-entry in the list after two years, it hasn’t changed the ranking of the top 20 companies significantly. However, the revenues of the next 30 companies (ranked 21-50) grew at 29 per cent, faster than the top 20 companies.
Four companies recorded triple-digit growth, while 150 of the 200 companies (129 Indian companies and 71 foreign ones, who are active players in the Indian market) recorded double-digit growth.
In 2009-10, only one company grew at a rate over 100 per cent, while 78 recorded double-digit growth. In general, companies focused on the domestic market have grown faster than those focused on exports. As many as 18 of the 20 fastest growing companies are focused on the India market.
Coincidentally, the top company, TCS, with a revenue of Rs 33,112 crore (minus BPO), was over 200 times the size of the two companies at the 200th rank — Aftek Limited and Datamatics Global Services — which posted revenues of Rs 155 crore each in 2010-11, the survey said.
Company INFO
Oriental Bank sets eyes on expanding overseas business
February 10, 2011 at 2:29 pm | Posted in Additional business, Infrastructure, New Business | Comments Off on Oriental Bank sets eyes on expanding overseas businesshttp://www.thehindu.com/business/companies/article898641.ece
Oriental Bank sets eyes on expanding overseas business
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Launches the process of enrolment for ‘Aadhar’ project
Setting its eyes on expanding business overseas, Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) on Friday announced that it hoped to launch its Dubai operations in the next three months and was looking at opening another four branches in other countries.
Talking to newsmen here to launch the process of enrolment for the Unique Identification Authority of India’s (UIDAI) ‘Aadhar’ project, bank Chairman and Managing Director T. Y. Prabhu said the bank expected to receive Reserve Bank of India’s nod for setting up its first overseas branch in Dubai in the next three months.
Plans branches abroad
The bank plans to have a total of three branches abroad in three-four years as part of plans to meet the funding requirement of Indian companies working in foreign markets.
The first overseas branch is planned at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). “We have asked for approval from RBI and we are waiting for the permission for the branch in DIFC. I think we should get the permission within the next three months. Then we will apply to DIFC,” he added.
“According to our medium-term objective, we envisage setting up of at least three overseas branches within 3-4 years. We have not identified all the locations and the entire process of opening a foreign branch generally takes between one and one-and-a-half years,” he said.
The bank had already announced plans for major domestic expansion, involving the addition of 500 new branches by 2012-13, including 175 this year.
The bank currently operates 1,555 branches across the country, catering to a 1.6 crore-strong client base.
OBC is among the 22 financial sector players to have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Nandan Nilekani-headed UIDAI.
Mr. Prabhu said the bank would provide UID number cards to all 16,000 of its employees and 1.6-crore clients, besides the populace of all 570 villages put under its charge by the RBI as part of the government’s financial inclusion programme.
Mr. Prabhu, however, said the bank has not fixed any timeframe for completion of the enrolment process.
Visa cards for those registered with UIDAI
February 8, 2011 at 2:34 pm | Posted in New Business, UID Propaganda | Comments Off on Visa cards for those registered with UIDAI16 NOV, 2010, 04.34AM IST,ET BUREAU
Visa cards for those registered with UIDAI
Visa is partnering TSYS — a US-based tech company that focuses on credit card transactions — to help it use biometric verification for issue of cards. With this technology in place, the card company can check the applicant’s credentials by verifying his fingerprints or iris impression.
The UIADI, through the Aadhaar scheme, aims to provide every Indian with a unique identity number which can be ascertained by his fingerprints or iris impression. The authority plans to issue Aadhaar numbers to 600 million residents over the next four years, with a 100 million expected to be enrolled in the first year.
According to Visa, a very small proportion of the Indian population has bank accounts. As a part of the proposed solution, once an individual enrolls into Aadhaar, the partner bank can issue a Visa payment card (linked to his/her Aadhaar).
Visa group executive Elizabeth Buse said: “Many Indians have little or no access to the banking system in India. Now they will be able to benefit from all the security, reliability and convenience that a Visa payments card has to offer. This is a ground-breaking initiative and a great example of a public-private partnership in action. I am delighted that Visa is part of such an important project in India.”
Tera Software to empanelment with Unique Identification Authority of India (AADHAAR) project, a prestigious project of Government of India to enroll 120 crore population, as T2F4 vendor in 15 States
February 8, 2011 at 1:52 pm | Posted in New Business | Comments Off on Tera Software to empanelment with Unique Identification Authority of India (AADHAAR) project, a prestigious project of Government of India to enroll 120 crore population, as T2F4 vendor in 15 States
Tera Software stock jumps on bagging UID project |
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Morpho successfully issuance of India’s first UIDAI number
February 8, 2011 at 1:48 pm | Posted in New Business | Comments Off on Morpho successfully issuance of India’s first UIDAI number
Morpho successfully issuance of India’s first UIDAI number |
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UIDAI proposes an e-toll plan, radio frequency tags for vehicles
July 15, 2010 at 4:03 pm | Posted in New Business, Process, The Market | Comments Off on UIDAI proposes an e-toll plan, radio frequency tags for vehiclesTags: New Business
http://www.livemint.com/2010/07/03003159/UIDAI-proposes-an-etoll-plan.html
UIDAI proposes an e-toll plan, radio frequency tags for vehicles
The report suggests setting up a national toll clearing house, which would administer the prepaid cards
Rahul Chandran
New Delhi: Highway users would in a couple of years be able to pay tolls electronically, through a prepaid mechanism to be set up by the road transport ministry.
The government has accepted a report by a committee headed by Nandan Nilekani, chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India, which recommends that vehicles be installed with radio frequency identification (RFID) tags.
Vehicles with these tags, each with unique identification numbers, would be tracked as they pass toll barriers. The tolls would be debited electronically from the user’s prepaid account.
Highways minister Kamal Nath said he would request the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, a trade body, to ensure that all new vehicles come with RFID tags.
Nath said the technology would also help check revenue leakage at toll barriers. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) loses an estimated Rs300 crore a year due to toll evasion.
The new proposal, expected to be implemented by May 2012, involves setting up a national toll clearing house, which would administer the prepaid cards.
Individual toll plazas would send information on vehicles that cross the plaza to the clearing house every evening which would be validated and sent back.
Only two private national highway operators—in Bangalore and New Delhi—provide electronic toll payment facilities. Some 8,000km of highways, out of a network of 70,000km, are currently tolled through 147 toll plazas. Of these, 100 are operated by NHAI.
The government’s policy of financing highway development by awarding stretches to private developers means more and more of the national network is likely to be tolled.
Electronic toll collection lanes in highways process 2.5 times more vehicles on average when compared with lanes where customers pay in cash, said NHAI board member V.L. Patankar.
The tags will be in the form of a sticker pasted on the windshield of vehicles and would cost about Rs100 each, said a committee member. RFID readers installed at toll plazas would cost Rs2 lakh.
“That’s the ideal way of doing it because it will reduce the hassle of having the right amount of money. It will also substantially reduce leakages,” said Amrit Pandurangi, who heads the transport and infrastructure practice for consulting firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers.
While there may be initial glitches, in the long run, the benefits would outweigh the costs, he added. Once the tags are installed, they could be used for a number of other applications such as payment for parking, he said.
rahul.c@livemint.com
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