Indian software and services exports are estimated at $17.2 billion in the financial year ended 2005, a 34 percent growth over the previous year, according to India's Ministry of Information Technology (MIT). The IT industry's contribution to the national economic output has nearly tripled, according to the ministry, from 1.2 percent in the 1997-98 period to 3.5 percent in 2003-04. The sector now accounts for about 4.1 percent of the national GDP.

Not long ago, the Indian government was accused of being fixated on software and recommendations for boosting the hardware sector languished in government departments. According to one market research firm, little manufacturing took place aside from TV sets and music players. A report by InStat estimated the Indian electronics production at only $5.8 billion in 2002, with consumer goods accounting for $2.1 billion or 37 percent of the total.

Today, the Indian hardware sector is rapidly emerging out of stagnation. MIT estimates electronics production last year at $11 billion, with consumer electronics taking 34 percent, computers and electronic components 18 percent each and industrial electronics 15 percent of the total. Electronics manufacturing has been growing at a CAGR of over 12 percent since 1999. With companies like Elcoteq and Nokia keen on manufacturing communications equipment in India, that sector and the overall electronics production will get a big boost this year and the next.

While growth has been triggered by the economic reform process, it will be maintained by the following key factors to India's success: a stable democracy, expanding consumer market, competitive wages and a talented workforce. By 2008, India will have employed 2.2 million software engineers and 1.6 million hardware designers.

Another key factor is that both the industry and the government are collaborating like never before. When Rajat Gupta, senior partner at McKinsey & Co., spoke in September to the U.N. General Assembly on the benefits of public-private partnership, he could have been referring to NIXI or the National Internet Exchange of India. NIXI is a company promoted by the Indian Department of Information Technology along with the Internet Service Providers Association of India. NIXI has been busy establishing exchange nodes around Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

Gupta could have also referred to Media Lab Asia (MLA), another public-private partnership. MLA undertakes R&D of fixed/mobile wireless technologies, and aims to create new technologies and solutions for next-generation wireless communication. MLA will work with academic/research institutions, the industry, NGOs and the government to bring these innovations to market for the benefit of the masses. The recent establishment of the Centre of Excellence in Wireless Technologies (CEWiT) in Chennai to solve problems such as cost-effective broadband last-mile connectivity is a step in that direction.

As electronics engineers in India strive to shape the future of the industry, the eetasia.com Network joins their efforts with the launch of eetindia.com on Nov. 28. The website draws on opinion gathered from hundreds of engineers based in India to deliver editorial selected and tailored to suit their information needs.

I welcome you to visit www.eetindia.com and experience the results of this burgeoning partnership.

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