‘India expected to be a $400 billion electronics market by then’
Minister for IT, BT and Science and Technology S.R. Patil said on Monday that by 2020, the State would be in a position to contribute 10 per cent to the country’s total earnings in electronics sector, besides generating about 2.5 lakh jobs in the industry.
Speaking after inaugurating Spark-IT, the Minister said India is expected to be a $400 billion electronics market by 2020. “I can say that 10 per cent share in the market will come from Karnataka,” Mr. Patil said.
The Minister said the State’s IT exports were expected to touch Rs. 4 lakh crore by 2020. The State registered exports worth Rs. 1.8 lakh crore last year. “We are not competing with the neighbouring States but with the Silicon Valley in the United States,” he said. Mr. Patil said 10 lakh software professionals had been employed in the State, mostly in Bangalore and the indirect employment through the IT sector was around 30 lakh. Information Technology has been the biggest employer in Bangalore with a sizeable chunk of its population employed in software companies, including some world-class and multinational companies, he informed.
The IT Minister disclosed that the Karnataka Information and Communication Technology Group-2020, headed by T.V. Mohandas Pai, has foreseen employment in IT sector in the State to touch 20 lakh from 10 lakh, and indirect employment to 60 lakh from 30 lakh by 2020.
Mr. Patil, quoting a recent report, said 75 per cent of the engineering graduates were found “unemployable” for lack of requisite skills. Only 25 per cent managed to land jobs in software companies.
Employability of graduates need attention as this would result in large-scale unemployment. “A lot of people, mainly from my region, come and meet me almost daily seeking jobs in software companies for their sons, relatives and others. But the companies look for skills and merit to give employment. Therefore, employable skills were highly essential,” he observed.
(The Hindu)
