Indian govt’s IT spending will grow 9.4% in 2021

Tech spending by the Indian government is forecast to reach $7.3 billion in the year 2021- an increase of 9.4% from 2020, according to the latest forecast by global research firm Gartner.

“The government in India will shift from being a cautious spender to opening the fiscal floodgates in 2021,” Apeksha Kaushik, principal research analyst at Gartner, said.

Globally, Gartner forecasts IT spending by governments to grow at 5.1% and register around $483 billion.

While Covid-19 forced the Indian government to stall its digital transformation projects in 2020, the Indian government’s Atmanirbhar Bharat, Make in India and Digital India initiatives will take centre stage in 2021, Gartner said. “The first ever digital census this year will be pivotal in increasing government IT spending in India,” it added.

The software segment, which includes application, infrastructure and vertical-specific software, is expected to post the strongest growth in 2021 at 13.4% growth rate. Spending on tech devices and IT services are expected to follow at 11.8% and 11.2% increase respectively.

“Adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), cloud services and blockchain will be major focus areas for the Indian government with more emphasis on ethics and privacy. Investments to address digital equity, creating India specific standards for 5G and granting access to remote citizen services will be critical,” Gartner’s Kaushik said.
CT Bureau