Robust growth in software products industry need of the hour: Expert

The Indian software services export industry has seen tremendous growth in the last decade. But the same cannot be said for the software products segment.

Unless India steps up its software products prowess, it will soon lose its top spot in that category, according to analysts.

India's software services exports now stands at $137 billion in FY2019, with US being the largest importer. However, in recent times, other Asian countries like Vietnam and Philippines have emerged as competitors.

However, we can no longer revel in that stat as the same cannot be said for the software products industry. The focus is all the more important given that the world is moving towards digital and enterprises becoming product-oriented.

In a bid to improve software product exports, Rai said that the government is setting up 28 centres of excellence (CoE) for new age technologies across the country, including in cities like Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

"This is to promote a culture of innovation in the country. We are looking at cities where the ecosystem is already in place," he added. These centres will be operationalised in one to five years time and will incubate 500 startups. The total investment for the project is about Rs 400 crore.

The CoE will conduct research and development in the areas of new age technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, machine learning, virtual reality, blockchain and IoT. The objective is to incubate startups in the CoEs, who will be mentored by the industry veterans.

Taking about the importance of ecosystem, Rai said that cities like Bengaluru and Hyderabad are ripe with talents when it comes to technology. Bengaluru, dubbed India’s Silicon Valley, is the IT and startup hub, whereas Hyderabad is becoming home to tech talents due to the presence of tech giants such as Microsoft, Google and Facebook.

In fact, India is a hot bed for captives, foreign firms that are setting up research and development centres. Rai explained that people are the most important since it is them who know how to create products.