New Delhi, October 7
The draft national policy on information & communications technology, 2011 unveiled here on Friday by Telecom & IT Minister Kapil Sibal aims at increasing the revenues of the information technology and IT enabled services (ITES) industry to US $300 billion by 2020.

With the exports contributing to the majority of the $80 billion earning presently of the IT and ITES industry the policy proposes to encourage growth of indigenous demands and market.

The proposed policy also aims at formulating fiscal and other incentives to attract investment in this sector in tier II and III cities.

The Indian IT and ITES sector currently employs over 2.5 million skilled people and has been one of the major employment generators in the last two decades.

The focus of the IT policy is on deployment of ICT in all sectors of the economy and providing IT solutions to the world. The policy on IT aims to strengthen and enhance India's position as a global IT hub and to use information technology as an engine for rapid, inclusive and sustainable growth in the national economy. Unveiling the draft policy, Sibal said: "IT is a key driver of an increasingly knowledge-based global economy and, given its current global position in the IT and ITES sector, India is well positioned to enhance and leverage its existing IT capabilities for a leadership role".

He further said the technology had "transformational power" and was a great leveler of opportunity within and across economies. "With the right policies and investment in infrastructure, we have the opportunity to strengthen and enhance our position as a global IT powerhouse. On the domestic front, use of IT in all sectors can transform our economy, enhance equity and help the nation to rapidly improve its development indices", he added. Sibal underlined the significant contribution of the IT sector to the growth of Indian economy over the last decade that posted a growth rate of eight per cent.

The policy aims to leverage the power of information & communications technology (ICT) to help address the monumental economic and developmental challenges the country faces.

While aiming to increase the revenue of the IT and the ITES industry from $ 88 billion to $ 300 billion by 2020 the policy also aims at promoting innovation and R&D in cutting edge technologies and development of applications and solutions in areas like localization, location based services, mobile value added services, cloud computing, social media and utility models.

It will also provide fiscal benefits to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and startups in the key industrial sectors for adoption of IT in value creation, leverage internet, web and mobile technologies for developing new products, technologies and businesses, integrate internet based and mobile based delivery of services onto a common platform to enable seamless, ubiquitous, secure and personalized delivery of government and nongovernment services throughout the country.

The policy also aims at integrating Aadhaar, financial and location-based services to foster an ecosystem for innovation in services, create a pool of 10 million additional skilled manpower in ICT and make at least one individual in every household e-literate.

The policy will extend the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) and mandate provision of all government services through electronic mode within a fixed time frame by enactment of the electronic delivery of services (EDS) bill, enhance transparency, accountability, efficiency, reliability and decentralization in government and, in particular, in delivery of public services.

Washington, DC, October 7
The United States on Thursday dragged China and India to the World Trade Organisation over subsidy programmes implemented by the world's two fastest growing economies, with a top Obama Administration official terming the situation as intolerable.

"The situation was simply intolerable," US Trade Representative Ron Kirk said.

Noting that every member of the WTO is required to come clean on their subsidy programmes on a regular basis, Kirk said China has not notified its subsidy programmes in over five years.

"India only recently filed its first notification in almost ten years and even then, notified only three of the many subsidy programmes we know to exist," he said.

"Because China and India have failed to meet their respective obligations, we had to act -- as we are entitled to under the WTO rules -- and provide the voluminous information we have developed regarding subsidy programmes in these two countries," he said.

Kirk announced that the US has submitted information to the WTO identifying nearly 200 subsidy programmes that China has failed to notify as per WTO rules.

Information was also submitted on 50 subsidy programmes in India not previously notified, he said.

Through these actions at the WTO, the United States is seeking the prompt provision of detailed information and data from China and India regarding the operation of these subsidy programmes, the US Trade Representative said. —PTI

New Delhi, October 7
Toyota Kirloskar Motor Ltd said Friday it will start exports of its two models, Etios and Etios Liva, to South Africa by March next year, marking the company's foray into export market.

"The export model of Etios will be built on the same platform as Etios and Etios Liva, manufactured and sold in India," the company said in a statement, adding that some technical changes, pertaining to the local requirements, will be made.

The company added that the company will export only the petrol variants of the Etios.

The export models will be manufactured at company's second plant in Bidadi industrial area on the outskirts of Bangalore, which currently produces Etios for the domestic market, the statement said.

To meet the export demand, Toyota Kirloskar is ramping up the capacity of the plant to 1,20,000 units by 2012 from today's levels of 80,000 units. By 2013, the company aims to ramp it up further to 2,10,000 units.

"Exporting the Etios to South Africa would also mean showcasing the advanced technology and superior quality features that have been developed by Toyota for Etios.

"We are convinced that the Etios will be successful in delivering Toyota's promise of quality in South Africa too," Toyota Kirloskar managing director Hiroshi Nakagawa said.

The company's deputy managing director (commercial), Shekar Viswanathan, said the start of exports by TKM denotes its growing role in Toyota's global operations.

"We see a big opportunity in this sector as exports have considerably grown when compared to last year. TKM's foray into the export market promises a lot of growth for the company," he said.

According to the company statement, the engine and transmission for the Etios sold in India and export markets will be manufactured at Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts.

Approximately 100,000 engines will be produced per year starting in the third quarter of 2012 and approximately 240,000 transmissions per year starting in early 2013 to meet the growing demand, the statement said.

The joint venture company currently imports the engines and transmissions from Japan. — PTI

New Delhi, October 7
Reliance Globalcom, the global telecommunications services arm of Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom), has announced the commercial launch of the upgraded capacity on Flag Europe Asia (FEA) and FALCON Cable Systems to over 500 GB.

The 400 per cent upgrade of the undersea FEA cable system capacity would usher in a bandwidth revolution on the emerging world's highest traffic route connecting Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Far East and, at the same time, address the bandwidth needs on this route in the years to come, RCom officials said.

Reliance Globalcom has witnessed a consistent year-on-year growth of around 60 per cent in the bandwidth requirement on the Europe, Middle East and Asia route.

"With the expansion of capacities to 500 GB plus on this route, and potential to increase it to multi terabits, we'll be able to provide abundant high quality bandwidth to our voice, carrier and enterprise customers for many years to come," said Reliance Globalcom CEO Punit Garg.

"The seamlessly integrated upgraded capacities on our global cable systems is in line with our strategic blueprint to enhance our leadership position in the voice and data carrier business, at the same time establishing leadership in the cloud computing, managed services and application services portfolio," he added.