1.Introduction

The Information Technology and Information Technology Enabled Services (IT-ITES) industry is very important in contributing to the development of the country. It has created a large amount of employment in the country and has helped in the development of the primary and secondary sectors monumentally. As per NASSCOM Strategic Review 2017, the Global Software Product Industry is estimated to be USD 413 billion. However, the contribution of Software Products in Indian IT-ITES revenue is just USD 7.1 billion out of which 2.3 billion USD are exports. On the other hand import of Software Products is estimated to be nearly 10 billion USD, so as such India is a net importer of software products at present.. The IT sector in India is primarily and largely a service based industry supporting industries such as manufacturing and agricultural. To realize and improve the software industry in India and also increase its contribution in the IT-ITES industry of India and the global software industry, the National Policy on Software Product(NPSP) was introduced by the Government of India in 2019.

2.VISION

Its vision is to make India a software product nation and make it a global leader of software and thus accelerate the India IT industry. The policy is aimed at the formulation of several schemes, programs, and initiatives to foster the development and growth of the software product industry. The agenda of the policy if to give an impetus to the IT industry in the country in times of dynamic technological advancements(1.Joshi). Also the policy aims to help align with other government initiatives such as Make In India, Start Up India etc so as to reach the goal of achieving an industry value of 40-70 billion dollars by 2025 and in the process create employment to about 3.5 million people (2.Drishti IAS).

For the policy, many definitions were laid out by the government such as what an Indian Company, what constitutes as a software product and etc so that a company falling under the said definitions and terms could be benefitted by the initiative taken under the national policy on software product.

3.Mission

This Policy has five main missions

(i) To promote the creation of a sustainable Indian software product industry, driven by intellectual property (IP), leading to a ten-fold increase in share of the Global Software product market by 2025.

(ii) To nurture 10,000 technology start-ups in software product industry, including 1000 such technology start-ups in Tier-II and Tier-III towns cities and generating direct and in-direct employment for 3.5 million people by 2025.

(iii) To create a talent pool for software product industry through

(i) Up-skilling of 1,000,000 IT professionals,

(ii) Motivating 100,000 school and college students and

(iii) Specialise 10,000 professionals that can provide leadership.

(iv) To build a cluster-based innovation driven ecosystem by developing 20 sectoral and strategically located software product development clusters having integrated ICT infrastructure, marketing, incubation, RD/test beds and mentoring support.

(v) In order to evolve and monitor schemes programmes for the implementation of this policy, National Software Products Mission will be set up with participation from Government, Academia and Industry(3.Government of India).

4.Strategies

To achieve these goals, the government has aimed to implement some strategies. Some of them are:

1. Promoting Software Products Business Ecosystem:

The National Policy on Software Products in India plans to establish an Indian Software Product Registry for industry ownership, thus helping in the formation of a trusted trade environment. It aims to facilitate software companies' participation in the capital market, streamline legal processes through a Single Window platform, and implement a model HS code for efficient classification of software products. Additionally, tax offsets will be allotted for investments in indigenous software product research and development.

2. Promoting Entrepreneurship Innovation for Employment:

In order to promote Entrepreneurship and Innovation this policy takes many initiatives. It aims to incubate about 10000 new startups with special empjasis on the focus of tier 2 and tier 3 cities. The policy introduces a Software Product Development Fund (SPDF) of Rs. 1000 Crore to support helping scaling up market-ready products and bridge funding gaps for startups. Additionally, it proposes a Rs. 500 Crore program to encourage research on software products in academic and industry settings. Challenge Grants, Software Product Clusters, A Centre of Excellence, and a common cybersecurity infrastructure are some measures aimed at creating a robust ecosystem for software product development and employment generation.

3. Skilling and Human Resource Development

The National Policy on Software Products in India aims to address the skill gap in the IT sector through certain programs such as the Future Skill programme, targeting with the upskilling/re-skilling of 3 million IT professionals in emerging technologies. It has special focus on software technologies, the program involves curriculum modifications, short-term training, and competency tests in collaboration with educational institutes and industry partners. Additionally, a "Talent Accelerator" program will help in motivating 100,000 school and college students towards software product development. The policy also aims to create about 10,000 committed software product leaders, fostering the development of technology and intellectual capital for the sector, interconnected with mentors in software product incubators and clusters.

4. Improving Access to Domestic Market and Cross Border Trade Promotion

The National Policy on Software Products in India aims to improve market access and promote cross-border trade through various measures. The integration of the Indian software product registry with the Government e-market (GeM) will help in providing marketing support. Startups and MSMEs are encouraged to develop solutions for key sectors like Smart Cities, healthcare, agriculture, and more, with hackathons organized to reward successful developments. It also establishes a framework for preferential inclusion of Indian software products in government procurement, thus aligning with the "Make in India" initiative. Special focus on international trade development including things such as integrating software products into foreign aid programs, showcasing them in events and trade fairs, and setting up infrastructure for global market presence. Additionally, incentives are given for developing products addressing language barriers across major Indian languages and connecting them with international languages like English.

5. Implementation of the Mechanism

The National Policy on Software Products establishes a "National Software Product Mission" (NSPM) under the Ministry of Electronics and IT. The mission's objectives include developing a strategy for global leadership, recommending policies for a supportive ecosystem, and proposing initiatives to help startups to come into domestic and international markets. NSPM will monitor initiatives, facilitate government agencies, encourage state participation, and oversee funds like SPDF and Research Innovation Fund. The policy will be implemented by MeitY through various programs, involving organizations like STPI, CDAC, NIC, industry bodies, and educational institutions.

5.Conclusion

In conclusion, the government has take a step into the right direction introducing the National policy for software product. It has given us wonderful results. The Indian Software Product industry has made historic achievements in revenue FY 2023, reaching $14.2 Bn in total revenue (As per NASSCOM estimate.). Undeniably 2022 was the year of tech start-ups growth in India. Apart from the unicorn story, the software product segment witnessed a rise in demand for collaborative applications, application platforms, security software, system and service management software, and content workflow and management applications.(4.Government of India). Today, Indias IT sector contributes to about 7.5 percent of the GDP and a large chunk of that is from our software industry and one could argue that it was due to the National policy on Software Products that this happened(5. Sun).

Citations

1. Joshi, Urja. National Policy on Software Products, 2019. Legal Service India - Law, Lawyers and Legal Resources, www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-4010-national-policy-on-software-products-2019.html. Accessed 25 Jan. 2024.

2. Drishti IAS. National Policy on Software Products - 2019. Drishti IAS, 1 Mar. 2019, www.drishtiias.com/daily-news-analysis/national-policy-on-software-products,2019.

3. Government of India. National Policy on Software Products (2019). National Policy on Software Products 2019, Feb. 2019, www.meity.gov.in/writereaddata/files/national_policy_on_software_products-2019.pdf.

4. Government of India. National Policy on Software Products (NPSP) 2019 - Meity. National Policy on Software Products (NPSP) 2019, 2023, www.meity.gov.in/national-policy-software-products-npsp--2019.

5. Sun, Shangliao. India: IT-Bpm Industry Share in GDP 2023. Statista, 18 Sept. 2023, www.statista.com/statistics/320776/contribution-of-indian-it-industry-to-india-s-gdp/#:~:text=The%20information%20technology%2Fbusiness%20process,country%20in%20fiscal%20year%202023.