Govt's IT spending to hit $7.2 bn in 2016: Gartner

NEW DELHI: The government is on track to spend USD 7.2 billion on IT products and services in 2016, an increase of 2.4 per cent over 2015, research firm Gartner today said.

The forecast includes spending by state, local and the central government on internal services, software, IT, data centre, devices and telecom.

IT service (which include consulting, software support, business process outsourcing, IT outsourcing, implementation, and hardware support) is expected to grow 9.3 per cent in 2016 to reach USD 1.8 billion, with the business process outsourcing sub-segment growing 21 per cent, Gartner said in a report.

Telecom services is poised to be a USD 1.6 billion market, with the mobile network services sub-segment recording the fastest growth at 5.2 per cent in 2016 to reach the USD 909 million mark, it added.

"Government spending on software will total USD 885 million in 2016, a 4.5 per cent increase from 2015. The software market will be led by growth in applications," Gartner Principal Research Analyst Moutusi Sau said.

Internal service, which refers to salaries and benefits paid to the information staff of an organisation, is forecast to grow 5.8 per cent in 2016 to reach USD 1.5 billion.

The information service staff includes all employees that plan, develop, implement and maintain information systems.

"The e-governance initiatives to simplify digital channels and data-driven initiatives are driving investments in the government and are anticipated to grow through 2020. The Digital India initiatives are making government processes streamlined and integrating the data repositories," Sau said.