Role of government in the growth of India's software industry

Abstract

According to some sources, India is the second largest exporter of software in the world, next to the US. The industry has been growing at over 50 percent per year for the past ten years, compared to a global growth rate of about 12 percent. This study adopts an interpretive case study research methodology in studying this growth, and investigating the factors behind it. Interviews conducted in India and various secondary sources including official data, data from industry sources, research articles, and trade journal reports contributed to this study.The study identifies that contrary to popular perception, the Government of India was a significant positive force behind the growth of Indiaa??s software industry through a three-pronged approach of (1) Policy support (2) Infrastructure support and (3) Human resource support, that resulted in the growth of clusters of software excellence scattered across India.