Date:30/11/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/11/30/stories/2005113003120400.htm

Back Govt spending on IT below target: Maran

Our Bureau

New Delhi , Nov 29

THE Minister for Communications and IT, Mr Dayanidhi Maran, today said that while India was making rapid strides in offering IT services to other nations, the level of IT spending within the country was still low.

"The Planning Commission had recommended that Government's IT spending should be 2-3 per cent, we did not reach that target. But Government is trying to improve its IT spending. We are now trying to reach 100,000 villages through e-governance initiative," Mr Maran said addressing a session on `ICT in India' at India Economic Summit here.

With six lakh villages in India, providing computer connectivity to one lakh villages would create a honeycomb effect. "As a prelude to this, the Government has started asking the States to roll out State Wide Area Network," he said.

Responding to infrastructure issues raised by various players during the session, Mr Maran urged companies to look beyond Bangalore for growing their operations.

The development of IT needs to be spread out, he added.