India will surpass China in IT sector by 2042: Maran

Chennai, Apr 1 (UNI) Union Minister for Communication and Information Technology Dayanidhi Maran today said India will surpass China in Information Technology (IT) sector by the year 2042.

''India, with a global market share of over 10 per cent, has been witnessing rapid changes due to IT revolution,'' he said while addressing the eighth Graduation Day of Sri Sai Ram Engineering College here.

This was possible as India had privatised education, he said and also exhorted students to keep abreast of developments in the engineering field. There was more scope in IT sector as its products keep appreciating unlike other manufacturing products, he added.

However, he cautioned students that if they did not perform better than China, then India would ''miss the IT bus''.

''China has started to invest more in IT and its people have also started learning English. But sadly in our country, less than five per cent of Indians can read and write English,'' Mr Maran said.

He said the industry-friendly atmosphere in Tamil Nadu was now attracting many foreign companies to set up their facilities not only in Chennai but across the state. This had also given the state the name 'Detroit of India,' he added.

Students should make use of these opportunities and do things differently rather than doing different things, without losing their identity, he advised.

UNI