IT spending in India to hit $110.6 bn despite inflation, geo-political disruption

New Delhi, April 6

The overall IT spending in India is likely to reach $110.6 billion in 2022 -- growing 6.3 per cent from 2021 - as inflation, geo-political disruption and talent shortages are not expected to slow down IT investments, a Gartner report said on Wednesday.

In India, the forecast has been revised from the earlier estimate of $105.2 billion, primarily due to the growth in devices in 2021.

"In 2022, along with devices, Indian CIOs and business leaders will continue to increase their spending towards analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, customer experience and cloud," said Naveen Mishra, senior research director at Gartner.

Indian CIOs are contemplating to restructure their existing IT vendor engagement programmes "with an eye on co-creation of solutions in close partnership with their providers and newer contracting models," Mishra added.

The spending on IT services in India is likely to reach $19.7 billion in 2022 -- an 8.6 per cent growth from last year.

The increasing cost of talent will be one of the major growth drivers in the country.

Worldwide IT spending is projected to total $4.4 trillion in 2022, an increase of 4 per cent from 2021.

"This year is proving to be one of the nosiest years on record for CIOs. Geopolitical disruption, inflation, currency fluctuations and supply chain challenges are among the many factors vying for their time and attention," said John-David Lovelock, distinguished research vice president at Gartner.

Software spending is expected to grow 9.8 per cent to $674.9 billion in 2022 and IT services is forecast to grow 6.8 per cent to reach $1.3 trillion globally.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is not expected to have a direct impact on global IT spending, according to the report.

Price and wage inflation compounded with talent shortages and other delivery uncertainties are expected to be greater impingements on CIOs' plans in 2022 but will still not slow down technology investments.

"CIOs anticipate having the financial and organisational ability to invest in key technologies throughout this year and the next," said Lovelock.