NASSCOM prepares five point agenda for IT companies in India

NASSCOM has prepared a five point agenda for the new Indian government to help its IT companies contribute in the development agenda within the country and to enable them in increasing their global foot print.

"We are suggesting (to new Indian government) to launch a technology entrepreneurship mission immediately, in which there are several different components which together will accomplish this purpose," R Chandrashekhar, National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) president, said yesterday.

"We have prepared an agenda for the new Indian government in terms of what it should do (for the IT sector). How the new government can use the strength of the Indian IT industry which has global reach and globally recognised capabilities to achieve the development agenda within the country. What they need to do in order to achieve that and what they need to do to enable the Indian IT industry is to increase its global foot print," he said.

"We have worked out a five point agenda," Chandrashekhar said ahead of the formation of the new Indian government.

The counting of votes of the 16th general elections are scheduled for May 16, following which the new Indian government will be formed.

The NASSCOM president was here this week along with 27 Indian entrepreneurs, selected for their innovative startups, to give them exposure to the Silicon Valley.

Observing that the Indian IT industry has come a long way in the last few decades, as it has grown in size and now has a global foot print, the NASSCOM president said there is an opportunity for it to expand its global footprint and at the same time contribute to the domestic transformation and developmental agenda.

"The first is what all measures the government needs to take to enable innovation and support entrepreneurship. There are many policy measures that need to be taken by the government.

How do you create an ecosystem that accelerates the growth of small companies, growth of the product companies," Chandrashekhar said, adding that one of the measures could be creating a system of funding for startups, and connecting them with academics and research and development.

Another suggestion on the agenda is to make the domestic investment easier and simpler. The agenda, details of which are still being fine-tuned, among other talks about the rules and regulations including the rules regarding listing an IPO and taxation on stock options to employee of a company.

"There are whole bunch of issues at the policy level which the government needs to fix so that this eco-system can do its job and deliver the value," he said adding that Indian entrepreneurship today is really bubbling and can actually grow to its full potential.

According to the NASSCOM president, the government needs to ensure that the rules for opening and operating the small business are "far simpler" than those are at the moment. He advocated for simpler version of regulatory framework for these companies.

Provisions with regard to taxation, institutional credit and the risk profiling, he said.
Prominent among other areas of NASSCOM agenda is to promote the growth and global competitiveness of the IT industry by building new markets, expanding existing markets, focusing on skill development.

NASSCOM agenda also calls for taking steps to improve the general business environment in India. "Remove the uncertainties that exists," he said.

The NASSCOM agenda also recommends a set of "futuristic policies" that would catalyse the emergence of the digital economy and support growth of e-commerce and facilitate the online financial transactions etc.