India’s spend on IT this year will grow a modest 7.3% from 2020 to reach US$93 billion, said Gartner in a forecast report.
Growth will be lower than the global average of 8.4%.
Spending on data centres is expected to increase to $3.5 billion (up 4.3% from 2020), while that on enterprise software is expected to be $7.7 billion (up 13.3%) and devices at 34.6 billion (up 7.7%). IT services is expected to reach $16.7 billion (up 8.9%), and communications services $30.1 billion (up 4.9%) spending.
Gartner said IT spending growth will return as CIOs start positioning IT as not just a growth enabler, but a ‘survival necessary’ strategy.
CIOs in India will direct their IT spending budgets towards accelerating digitisation efforts. Spending is expected to increase on technologies including advanced analytical solutions, access management, encryption software, desktop as a service, cloud, and hyperautomation enabling systems. IT solutions such as robotic process automation (RPA), AI, ML and digital commerce will also experience an increase in spending.
"Last year, IT spending took the form of a 'knee jerk reaction to enable a remote workforce in a matter of weeks. As hybrid work takes hold, CIOs will focus on spending that enables innovation, not just task completion,” said Gartner Research Vice President John-David Lovelock.
The government sector in India will contribute to 13.11% of the total IT vertical spending in India, and will position itself as the fourth- highest spending vertical after communications & media, banking & securities and manufacturing sectors in 2021.
As part of the Digital India initiative, Indian government will plan to accelerate spending on deploying contactless payments, increasing automation and remote working and augmenting cybersecurity throughout the year.
