The enviable growth of the services sector has been primarily driven by the exponential growth witnessed during the past 10 years in the IT/ITES industry. The Indian IT/ITES industry has been growing at a very healthy rate of 30% per annum. The industry has helped in creating large scale employment opportunities not only for technically qualified professionals in the software sector but also for large number of non – technical personnel in low end activities like back office operations, call centres, transcription services etc. This industry is able to generate jobs with relatively low investment and also to achieve the goal without causing any environmental degradation. Today this industry is provid ing employment to over 1.6 million people across the country, grossing total revenue of over Rs. 160,000 crores per year, from exports and domestic sales put together.
Government of Kerala is keen to play a catalytic role for the development of IT/ITES industry within the State, as it is ideally suited for such a densely populated State, having vast multitude of highly qualified and experienced human resources, uniformly spread across the State. Unlike the rest of the country, the State is also blessed with quality social infrastructure and excellent physical connectivity, evenly distributed across the fourteen districts of the State from Thiruvananthapuram in the south to Kasaragod in the north. Due to certain inherent strengths of the State , Kerala is uniquely placed to emerge as a major IT destination in the country, though it has had a late start. With the industry galloping at a healthy CAGR of about 25% there is enough opportunity available for the State to capture a fair share of the growing IT/ ITES business.