Bangalore: Indian manufacturing and natural resources companies will increase spending on information technology (IT) products and services by 9% to Rs.40,800 crore this year, technology researcher Gartner Inc. forecast in a report released on Wednesday.
These firms will allocate most of that amount on telecommunications services, on which they are expected to spend about Rs.13,200 crore, Gartner said.
“Despite India’s slowing economic growth, manufacturing and natural resources remain large and important sectors in the Indian economy, and they are attracting increased IT spending to improve productivity and competitiveness,” said Ken Brant, research director for manufacturing at Gartner. “Indian manufacturers are seeking to use IT to make process improvements and information from across manufacturing operations more transparent and actionable.”
Spending on consulting services is expected to grow at a fast clip exceeding 22%, and on software services at over 15%, Gartner said. The forecast includes spending on internal and external IT services, hardware, software and telecom services.
On Monday, Gartner predicted the Indian government’s spending on IT products and services in 2013 would expand by 10.5% from last year to Rs.36,800 crore.
