'20-25 lakh more jobs in IT sector in next few years'

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government is completing three years in the office, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has claimed of connecting above 90,000-gram panchayats through optical fiber network under its BharatNet project.

Spelling out the achievements of his ministry, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "In June 2014, when the NDA government had come to power, only 358 km were laid with optical fiber cable, which rose to above 2.05 lakh km in the last three years. As per latest data, some 90,966-gram panchayats have been connected with high-speed internet under the Digital India mission of the government." Highlighting the other achievements of his ministry, he added that in June 2014, there were 22 crore smartphone users, which rose to 40 crore in May 2017, which is almost double, while mobile users rose to 108 crore from 90 crore and internet users touched 50 crore mark from 24.3 crore in June 2014.

Denying the reports of a downturn in employment in the country's IT industry, Prasad said that in the coming four to five years, almost 20-25 lakh additional jobs will be created in the sector.

"I completely deny and refute that there is any downturn in the employment in the IT sector. It is robust. Once the digital economy is here, you will see how much it will progress," the Minister said.

"Indian IT companies are spread across 200 cities and 80 countries around the world, which provide direct employment to 40 lakh people and indirect employment to almost 1.3 crore people. As the industry is moving forward, it is Nasscom's assessment that in the coming four to five years, almost 20-25 lakh additional jobs will be created," Prasad said, adding that in the next five to seven years, India's digital economy will be of an estimated $1 trillion.