Govt's IT spending in India to reach $11.6 bn in 2023

New Delhi, May 24

The government's IT spending in India is likely to reach $11.6 billion in 2023, an increase of 10.3 per cent from 2022, a report showed on Wednesday.

The government will continue to focus on modernising initiatives and their digital efforts for increased productivity, automation and other software-driven transformation, according to an IDC report.

"For example, they are ensuring public sector institutions in India build mobile-first experiences for their citizens, especially for those who don't own a smartphone," the report noted.

Locally, Unified Mobile Application for New-Age Governance (UMANG) applications have been offering all services through a single portal to enhance government service-delivery experience.

In addition, the Open Government Data Platform (OGDP) drives mobile governance in India while the India Stack creates a unified platform to digitise the population of the country.

"Both are helping to provide an enhanced digital experience to Indian citizens," said the report.

Worldwide government IT spending is forecast to reach $589.8 billion in 2023, an increase of 7.6 per cent from 2022.

Software will continue to be the highest growing segment this year. Application modernisation investments will increase supported by more software-as-a service-based solution offerings, according to a Gartner report.

"Global challenges like inflation and workforce scarcity and their local repercussions are testing the abilities of government CIOs to respond with appropriate service delivery mechanisms and organisational accountability," said Apeksha Kaushik, principal analyst at Gartner.

In addition, the "great resignation" and the competing demand from the commercial sector have forced governments to re-examine their approaches to counterbalance internal talent scarcity, Kaushik added.

In 2023, government organisations will sustain commitment to investing in digital programmes.

"Governments are increasingly spending their IT budgets to replace legacy applications. About 57 per cent of government CIOs plan to increase funding for application modernisation in 2023, up from 42 per cent in 2022," said Kaushik.

By 2026, Gartner foresees over 75 per cent of governments will gauge digital transformation success by measuring the enduring mission impact.

"Government CIOs who are moving beyond scaling digital solutions across their critical services are ensuring that further investment in digital solutions can directly impact how they achieve the mission or public purpose of their organisation," said Kaushik.