Economy & Business
Software services sector seeks
boost for
domestic market
What is India
News Service, 1 July 2004, 2000 hrs
The software services sector wants the
government to spend more on e-governance and thereby increase the
domestic IT market. Biocon is filing more patent applications since
last year in its efforts to become a global biotechnology major. The
union cabinet has approved the Central Excise Tariff (Amendments)
Bill, 2004. For the Indian economy, growth in 2003-04 has been the
best since 1988-89.
The Rs 549 crore
bio-pharma company Biocon has filed 88 patent applications in
2003-04 as against 88 in the year before. In 2000, it had filed just
nine patents, before moving up to 28 the following year. It has
filed for patents not only in the US, but also in countries like
Brazil, Mexico, Japan and Russia. Biocon has also formed its R&D
strategies for the next 3-5 years and is keen to develop processes
for generic pharmaceuticals, biologicals and enzymes for world
markets.
The software services
sector wants the government to continue existing IT-friendly
policies. Industry sources say that merely bringing down excise duty
on hardware will not help much in expanding the market. It wants
further incentives to set up centres in smaller cities and is
seeking better telecom infrastructure in small towns.
The union cabinet has
approved the Central Excise Traiff (Amendments) Bill, 2004. This
will make way for introducing the 8-digit classification code for
central excise. The bill will eliminate problems caused by different
classifications and facilitate electronic processing. The bill will
bring into practice a common classification code for both customs
and central excise and enable smooth data processing. It will also
help policy making by enabling collection of more specific data on
commodities.
The economy grew by 8.2
per cent in the fiscal year 2003-2004, the best growth recorded
since 1988-89. A favourable monsoon contributed to the expansion in
farm output. Also, per capita income posted the best growth since
1988-89 at 6.5 per cent.
Overall:
Biocon doubled its
patent filings: The
Rs 549 crore bio-pharma firm filed 88 patent applications in 2003-04
as against 28 the year before.
IT services sector
demanded more e-governance:
It wants the government to spend more on e-governance to
boost the domestic IT market.
Central Excise
Tariff Bill was approved: This
will eliminate problems caused by different classifications and also
facilitate electronic processing.
Indian economy beat 1988-89 growth record: It
grew by 8.2 per cent in the fiscal year 2003-2004, the best growth
seen since 1988-89. |
